 Hi, hello. My name is Elsie Dama, and we're here to welcome you to the Lesson 11, which is Get Over Yourself. This is going to be done by the teens class. And for the mission, we'll have Elsie Ciro. For the orchestra, we're going to have Amy Andagalu, sorry, Elsie Dama. We're going to also have Marinya Numba. For the panel discussion, we're going to have Elsie Dama, Amara Tatiana, Bilmi Tcheka, and Tichayu Jino Kumo. And for the orchestra, they're going to be playing song number 529. I do hope you have a nice time and that you learn some things at Jesus Feet. Thank you. Hi, my name is Elsie Ciro, and I'll be doing this week's mission. The title of the mission is called Baptized Again, and it's from Portugal. It's about a young lady named Salome. So Salome was baptized out of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, but didn't find the church interesting. She didn't seem quite right about her church teachings, and as Salome grew older, she stopped going to church altogether. She didn't want anything to do with the church, but then she still believed in God and asked Him for His guidance. Salome began to think a lot about God. When her four-year-old grandson, Jorge, was enrolled in Seventh Day Adventist School in Portuguese island of Madeira. The island is located on an hour away by plain south of Portugal and off Africa's west coasts. The family had entrepreneurs who said, Jorge, to their Adventist School. Instead, the boy's mother took him to a public preschool for several days, where Jorge cried and cried, and no one could understand why Jorge was crying. His parents didn't know what to do, and Salome also didn't know what to do. Then the boy and his parents travelled to Funchal, the biggest city on the island, to carry out some errands. As the family went about their business, they noticed a neat skull surrounded by a fence with a metal gate. They went inside to take a closer look. The moment Jorge stepped onto the school grounds, he exclaimed, he loved the school. He then saw other children playing the playground and decided that he did not want to go back to the other school. He looked up at his mother and father with great determination and his tiny face. Stumping his feet on the ground, he yelled, I don't want to go to the other school. So it was Jorge that was enrolled in the Seventh Day Adventist School. The teachers allowed Salome to accompany her grandson to classes for the first two months to make sure that he adjusted well to the school. Salome liked her school. She liked the teachers. It was clear that Jorge also liked the school. He never cried or asked to go home. The pastor of an Adventist Church that met on the second floor of the school invited Salome to take part in Bible studies. I don't mind having Bible studies, Salome replied. I can't go to the Bible studies anytime, but I'm not going to be baptized again. No one is going to put water on my head again. She didn't go to the Bible studies, but after some time, Jorge and his parents started attending prayer meetings every Wednesday at the school. Then the parents started to take Bible studies. Seeing that they were studying the Bible, Salome agreed to the Bible studies. At the end of the Bible studies, Anna, a Seventh Day Adventist who was doing the Bible studies, asked if she wanted to pray again. Salome shook her head. It was her first Bible study, and she had mixed feelings about what was going on. Anna suggested that they sing a song instead, and Salome agreed. She opened her hymnal and held it out so she and Salome could sing together. Anna began to sing, I am the porter, you are the clay. Immediately Salome burst into tears. She tried, but she couldn't sing a single word. Surprised, Anna stopped singing. She got up and gave Salome a big hug. Don't cry, she said. The song was very meaningful for Salome. She explained that the song, which Anna had chosen at random, had been played at the memorial service of her mother. Anna also began to weep. The two women wept together. Salome continued the Bible studies with Anna. She learned about Jesus' example of baptism by immersion. She saw that the Bible did not teach infant baptism. She also went to prayer meetings with her grandson and his parents. Then his parents declared that they planned to get baptized. Two weeks before the baptism, Salome called Anna. I want to speak with the pastor, she said. Anna guessed what was on Salome's mind. Do you want to do what I think that you want to do? She asked. The pastor was surprised that Salome wanted to be baptized after being so adamant about not needing to be baptized again. She suggested that she take her time in making a decision. Five months later, Salome gave her heart to Jesus in baptism. Today, Salome serves as in the woman ministry's department at her Adventist Church. Jorge's father is a church elder and his mother is a deconest. Jorge was baptized at the age of 12. And to this day, Salome does not understand why Jorge cried at the public preschool and was happy at the Adventist school. But one thing is clear. Because Jorge went to the Adventist school, her life has changed completely. The Holy Spirit touched my heart, Salome said. That was when she knew that I had to be baptized. This quarter, Statenza, by offering will go to building schools in Portugal. On my far right, I have Elsie. Next to me is Tatiana. And on my left, I have Bill. We'll begin with a word of prayer from Tatiana. That's by our heads for a word of prayer. How can in Heavenly Father, Lord, you want to thank you for this beautiful day that you have granted unto us? Now as we may start our connoisseur lesson connection, please may you get us and protect us. I would also like to pray for all those who are on the other side of the screen, Lord, that they may also understand the lesson and also enjoy. And this is all we pray in just mighty name. Amen. So today, we are going to be looking at lesson 11, the story of the children of Israel before they enter the land of Canaan. And Elsie will take us through into the story and out of the story. Elsie. Moses. Okay. The Lord commanded Moses to send some men to go and explore the land of the Canaanites, which he had promised to give to the Israelites. And he told Moses that from each tribe, they should choose one man to go and represent. So Moses did as God had commanded him and he sent out men from the desert of Paran. Now, when Moses was sending this man out, he told them that they should go out through Negev and on into the hill countryside. They were to look at what the countryside, what the land was like, what the people were like there, were they strong or were they weak, were they few or were they many? Was the land good or was it bad? So when the men came back, they came back with reports and they reported what they had seen before Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the desert of Paran. And they also brought fruits from that land which they showed to the whole community. Now, they gave Moses this account. The land is indeed flowing with milk and honey, but the people there are too strong and the cities are very large and heavily fortified. But Kaleb, son of Jeffhune, who was one of the men who had gone to explore, said that we should certainly go up and take possession of the land because God has promised us victory and we can certainly do it. But the men who had gone with Kaleb were adamant and they said, no, we cannot, we cannot attack those men because they are much stronger than we are. And so this meant that the whole night, the whole community of the Israelites raised the voices and wept aloud and they grumbled against Moses and Aaron and the entire assembly and they were asking them, why did you let us to come here out of Egypt to come and die in the wilderness? You'd have just let us die in Egypt or in the wilderness. Why did you come to let us suffer here? Then Moses and Aaron, they fell on their faces before the assembly and the whole Israelite community. Joshua, son of Nan and Kaleb, son of Jeffhune, tore their clothes and they were wailing and they were asking themselves before the Israelites, why do you fear those people? They said that the land is indeed certainly good. It is flowing with milk and honey. But if we are afraid, if we do not rebel, God will certainly give us victory over these people because God is with us. They do not have protection. God is our main protection and we should just go forward and conquer and conquer the cities because God will always grant us victory. Great. Let us go to the into, well, out of the story and answer a few questions from the story. Elsie, please take us through the first question. Last question is why do you think God wanted them to explore? Why do you think he wanted them to send men to go and see and then come and tell the Israelites? I mean, he's omnipresent, right? He's everywhere. He can see and then he can tell the Israelites directly. But why did he have to send Moses to send men to go and then come back? Why do you think he did that? Bill, what do you think? So for me, what I think is that God decided to send these guys out of the wilderness to look over the land of Canaan so that they can be able to see what awaits them there because there are times in life where we feel like it's better if we find out what's waiting for us, what's ahead of us. Such can be able to prepare adequately for it. So I think that it was good enough for God to tell Moses to send these people out so that they can see what's in store for them in the land of Canaan. Amen. I also think God sent them to test them. What do you guys think? Maybe he was trying to test whether they believed in him. So he decided to send them out and see their reaction. Another question that is there, Elsie, is why do you think Caleb and Joshua were not terrified? It's a good question, right? Tatiana, what do you think? I think the reason why they were not scared was because they knew they serve a living God and they knew that he was there and he knew that in whatever that all the Israelites did, he knew all their answers. And Joshua and Caleb were also strong in faith. Yeah. I discovered something so interesting when I was reading the lesson. Caleb was from the tribe of Judah. And we all know that Christ is called the lion from the tribe of Judah. And we know lions to be very bold animals. So part of the reason Caleb I think wasn't terrified was because of the tribe he came from. The Bible says in the book of Proverbs 28 verse 1 that the righteous are as bold as lions but the wicked flee when no one pursues. Whenever you're righteous, you have boldness that comes with that. One theologian called Oswald Chambers said, when you fear God, you fear nothing else. Or when you do not fear God, you have a fear of everything else. And then secondly, in the case of Joshua, we read about Joshua in the early books of Moses that Joshua was always in the tent with Moses, right? He was always in the tent with Moses. And in Proverbs, we also read that the companion of the wise will be wise but the companion of fools will be destroyed. So some of the courage that Joshua had, he got from spending so much time with Moses. And then lastly, Elsie, there's an application question at the end of the Out of the Story question. Please read it for us. Oh, which life lessons can you apply when you are faced with frightening situations in life out of this story? From this story, what can you pick that can help you to face difficult situations that you might think are impossible? So to answer this question, I would like to take Joshua and Caleb from the story as an example. We can see how they were not scared at all and how they were willing to conquer the land. And I think this is because of a strong faith in God. So if we have a strong faith in God, then we'll be scared of nothing because we know automatically that God is there to guide us and to take care of us and to see us through our situations. So I think what I can learn from this, so what I can learn from this passage is that God is there for us and that if we just learn to trust Him and let Him take over our lives, it's okay because we won't be scared anymore. Tatiana, any lessons from the story? A lesson that I think we can learn from this story. In life, we always have to have faith and faith without action is dead. So in life, we should also have strong faith in God because with God in our lives, anything is possible. Amen. One lesson I learned from the story is that when we are under God's wings, when we are under His protection, we have no cause for fear at all because God will always be there to protect us like an eagle protects her children under her wings. So it is very important for us to always find ourselves, find a place under the wings of God that He may protect us and guide us and be our shield in times when we feel afraid. I also noticed something very interesting that I will share with you even as we prepare for a special item we've prepared for you today. God's will is not always in the majority. Alright, Calib and Joshua were only two but the other spies who had a bad report were ten. So in your life, never feel the pressure to be part of the crowd. That is why I love this hymn so much under His wings. I am safely abiding though the night deepens and temp tests are wild. Still I can trust Him. I know He will keep me. He has redeemed me and I am His child. Back to our lesson. The key text is from the book of Numbers 14 verse 8 and 9 and it says, If the Lord is pleased with us, He will lead us into the land, a land flowing with milk and honey and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord and do not be afraid. Their protection is gone but the Lord is with us. Tatiana, could you take us through the flashlight of lesson 11? Yes. So the flashlight says, Hope and courage gave place to cowardly despair as the spies uttered the sentiments of their unbelieving hearts which were filled with discouragement prompted by Satan. Their unbelief cast a gloomy shadow over the congregation and the mighty power of God so often manifested in behalf of the chosen nation was forgotten. The people did not wait to reflect. They did not reason that He who had brought them thus far would certainly give them the land. As we can say from this that fear and courage does not occupy the same space and in the context that says the unbelief cast a gloomy shadow over the congregation nothing spreads like fear. Amen. Nothing spreads like fear indeed. Fear is a very contagious emotion and whenever you are around people that are fearful you might catch that flu from them. I'd like to welcome Finley who has just joined us. Finley, could you take us through the Sabbath section? Good morning everyone and so on the Sabbath part we're going to read Isaiah chapter 41 verse 10 and it says, Fear not for I am with you be not dismayed for I am your God I will strengthen you yes I will help you I will uphold you with my ratios at right hand. So the what do you think section of the lesson ask some ask some questions about fear as you answer those questions think about fear in your life. So in the what do you think section it says that what scares you? Write A for agree or D for disagree next to each of the following statements. So the first statement is I think of myself as a brief person they agree because back in 2021 I was given a someone need to present to the whole church. The second statement is I'm scared of a lot of things I disagree yes they are some things I'm scared about but not lots of things. Finley how about we ask Elsie what she thinks about the second one do you agree or disagree are you afraid of a lot of things? Yes I'm terrified of a lot of things I remember and I also wanted to add something on the flashlight I remember in school one time okay in school the last week before we closed it's normally we don't do anything because we're done with exams and we're just waiting for results so go to class but just don't come and remember this time I was asleep and there was someone who's telling a horror story at the front of the class then people started screaming and then I wake up I don't know why they're screaming but then I'm also screaming so fear does spread when I see someone else who's afraid I'll just be afraid even though I don't know what's going on so from that I know I'm afraid of a lot of things be it people, crowds I don't like snakes particularly I'm afraid of heights I'm a scared cat really I'm afraid of a lot of things yeah then you could read the next one maybe we'll find out what Bill thinks so the third statement is I think I handled fear well I agree by having more faith in God and also praying to him the first statement is fear holds me back from doing things I'd like to do I agree because fear will not let you do things the way you want Bill does fear hold you back from doing things you want to do? for me yes, fear holds me back because there are some instances I mean there are times where I'm faced with fear like one time I had to make a presentation in front of this church and the thing is I was scared because like it was during VBS and around that time the church is usually very packed so the thing is like looking at so many faces that you're not necessarily familiar with can be very difficult to do so there are times where I kept on bargaining and negotiating with the person who gave me the role and I kept on trying to ask them to prevent me from doing this but then I as I went on stage I managed to find out that everything was okay and it was all fine because God had given me the courage but yes it did hold me back in terms of preparation for this presentation because I kept on being worried about the people or I kept on being worried about what if I started on stage what do people think stuff like that so it did hold me back in terms of preparation for this presentation but then I realized that when I went there to present myself I found out that I was okay and that God had given me the courage Amen, Tatiana what is your worst fear? that's a good one my worst fear is actually that I fear God that's my number one fear how about you Finley what's your worst fear? my worst fear is the fear of the unknown fear of the unknown? yeah wow spooky how about you Bill? I fear snakes and nuts yeah Elsie? I fear darkness I don't like darkness you're not a night person I even when I sleep I have to put myself in a box and put myself in a bright situation like in my head so that I can sleep because I don't like darkness even in school I have to sleep before the lights go off because I can't survive in darkness I'll just pee on myself or something oh in our story we read something very interesting in the book of Numbers 13 and verse 33 I'll read in your hearing there we saw the giants the descendants of Anak came from the giants and we were like grasshoppers in our old sight and so we were in their sight so when these guys walked into the land of Canaan the giants were so tall that in their sight they looked like grasshoppers when I was young I used to trap grasshoppers and put them in jars and play with them I can imagine the catternites doing that to the Israelites you know they were that tiny but even though we all have fears if we read in the book of Isaiah 40 maybe else you can read for us Isaiah 40 we find out that before God we have no reason to fear Isaiah 40 and verse 22 so Isaiah 40 verse 22 says it is he who sits above the circle of the earth and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers who stretches out the heavens like a curtain who spreads them like a tent to dwell in so here we see that even though the Israelites looked like grasshoppers the eyes of the Canaanites to God we all look like grasshoppers have you ever been on a tall building that was so tall when you got to the top people looked like dots from up there can you imagine how we look to God from up there in the sky? so whatever you fear always remember that God is bigger God is greater and to him we're all like grasshoppers then maybe you can continue so the next statement is I'm afraid of new or unfamiliar situations I agree because just like I've said the few of them are known the next statement is trusting God helps me when I'm scared this I agree with it right so Tatiana maybe you can take us through Tuesday can read the text Tuesday first text is Timothy second Timothy fasts for seven and it says fear God for God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind I think the scripture speaks for itself and for God has not given us a spirit of fear but of God but of power and of love God has given us the the power and fear is not of God yeah fear is not of God guys fear does not come naturally to us it is something we learn and it is something of course we can unlearn it is something we can overcome what did we have on Thursday in terms of the texts? I mean Thursday we have fast Corinthians 16 verse 13 and it says be on your guard stand firm in the faith be courageous and be strong here we see that faith is always tested faith is always tested you can talk big but eventually God is going to bring a test to test whether you actually believe him in the book of Luke 12 from verse 4 to 5 we read something very interesting about fearing the right thing fearing the right thing maybe Bill you can read for us Luke 12 from verse 4 to 5 because sometimes our fears can be unreasonable don't you think? I mean there are people who are afraid of the number 13 for example which is kind of strange to be afraid of a number people are afraid of such strange things our fears can be so unreasonable but in that text that Bill is about to read we find what we are supposed to be afraid of Bill Luke 12 from verse 4 to 5 so Luke chapter 12 from verse 4 to 5 and says dear friends do not be afraid of those who want to kill your body they cannot do any more to you after that but I'll tell you whom to fear fear God who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell yes he's the one to fear right so here we see it's only reasonable to fear God because God is above all God is all powerful and God has the ability either to take you to heaven or to take you to hell you know every other fear is unreasonable because everyone else is mortal everyone else is born and everyone else has a day that they will that they will die that they will die Finley let's go back to the punchlines please read us the punchline from Deuteronomy 31 verse 6 Deuteronomy 31 verse 6 says be strong and courageous do not be afraid or terrified because of them for the Lord your God goes with you he will never leave you nor forsake you Amen here God is speaking to Moses and he tells him to be strong and courageous because God is going to go with him wheresoever he goes and we have a similar verse in the book of Joshua chapter 1 and I'll read it in your hearing from verse 8 Joshua 1 and verse 8 the Bible says this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth but you shall meditate in it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it for then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success this is very important guys faith is neutral whatever you feed it grows alright whatever you feed your faith will grow you can have faith for everything it is important to cultivate a faith in God by meditating on scripture because it will make you bolder and bolder and bolder so Joshua was being told by God here this book of the law shall be in your mouth and you shall meditate upon it day and night day and night you know many times you watch a horror film and you're not you're afraid of going to bed right you think someone is going to come and take you in your sleep that is because that's what you fed your spirit imagine if rather than watch a horror film you read your Bible would you still be afraid to go to sleep? it's unlikely would you still be afraid to switch off the light? it's unlikely but if you study the word of God you feed your faith in God and it enables you to face very scary situations in life how do you guys handle fear? Elsie I'm going to speak on two ways I handle fear that is before we had this lesson and after now how we'll be handling fear from now onwards before how I'd handle fear I wouldn't even handle it it would handle me like it it overcomes me because I will if I'm supposed to do something and it's something maybe before a crowd that fear in me will tell me that I can't do it and it will convince me and make abnormal situations in my head because I believe I can't do it and I won't do it because of that fear but since now I have gone through this lesson I think from now onwards I'll be handling fear by taking a moment to reflect on what God has done for me before I mean 15 years of my life there's so much that God has done for me that this one thing that I'm fearing is it's nothing he'll just he'll do it for me like he's done for me for other things and I'll take a moment to reflect and absorb that into my head and then ask God to help me and hold my hand through whatever it is that I'm about to do because he is my father right he's on who he's formed this whole earth he's done all these marvelous things why am I not trusting in him so I will I'll trust him more from now on and I'll close the lights yes Amen Tatiana how do you handle fear? Personally handling fear for me was very hard and I don't think I handle it but I'd just run away from the fear and and it would also overcome me but I think after this lesson how I'm going to handle it is let's come back to the story there the name of the theme of the story is get over yourself so I feel like in this context I'd literally get over myself and have that at the back of my mind God is bigger than the fear and that and that's going to help me overcome Bill how do you handle fear? So for me I have two ways in terms of going about it so I do what people usually advise other people to do like take deep breaths like you just breathe in hold it for like three, four, five seconds then I let it all out and then another way is that if I'm fearful in a situation that I know I cannot change that I have to indulge in this anyway what I do is I'll close my eyes count down five, four, three, two, one then go straight into it so that's like I'll be able to have the courage to do it and after this lesson we'll be fight out to this lesson I like what the last line of the third stanza in the song under his wing says the last line says resting in Jesus I'm safe evermore so what I learn is that when we rest in Jesus when we let Jesus take control we find out that everything falls into place I remember reading this book by Ben Carson Think Big and it says that all we should do we do our best and let God do the rest so yeah that's how I'm going to be tackling fear from now on yeah Amen Bill Finley how about you how do you handle fear? so I'll handle fear by trusting God and in real life situation you can ask people have gone through the same situation how you go about it that's right that's a good one as well because in life there's always someone who's gone through what you're about to go through or what you're facing like we saw with Joshua these were the first giants that Joshua was facing but Moses in the book of Deuteronomy killed a giant called King Og whose bed was about 13 feet tall right so you can always speak to people who have had an experience similar to yours but I love something that Tatiana said and she talks back to the title of the lesson which is get over yourself for every one glance at yourself the Puritans used to say take 10 glances at Christ for every one glance at yourself take 10 glances at who? at Jesus Christ so that it can dissuade you from your fear so that it can shift you from your fear for every one glance at yourself take 10 glances at Christ Hunters have this saying that when you encounter a wolf in the forest hold his gaze what do you guys think about that? would you hold the gaze or run? Bill? to be honest with you I'd run yeah cause holding a gaze against a wolf that's tough cause like a wolf is a wolf you know it's scary it's big and yeah I would try run away yeah how about you Tatiana would you hold the gaze of a wolf if you encountered one? no I wouldn't I'd personally also run but then come to think of it when you run wouldn't he chase you? exactly exactly so one thing I've learnt about fear is fear is a mental thing it happens in the mind some people have said that fear is negative faith is faith in the devil the same way hope is faith in God right? when David says in Psalm 33 even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death notice he says shadow it's not really real but your fear gives that shadow form so it's always important to face down your fears some have said when a dog runs to you call it instead of running you know play a mind game on the dog so that you you mess with it and it wouldn't be as sure about chasing you as it was maybe we can read a few more punchlines and then we'll close with a prayer Bill I'd like you to read the punchline from 1st John 4 let's say 18 1st John 4 18 and it says there is no fear in love but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment the one who fears is not made of is not made perfect in love Amen there is no fear in love one of the most popular sentiments in our time is love don't you think? in fact on Instagram what do you do all day? you just love stuff right? you just tap away and love stuff but we have really misunderstood what love really means the first thing we've been told by the Apostle John here is there is no fear in love so whenever you want to know whether there is real love in a situation how do you know? am I afraid? am I? comfortable you know? if people make you fearful then there's no love there but if you feel comfortable to be yourself then it is quite likely that there is love that is present in that situation and then lastly Elsie you can read us the further insight came to God's love and distrust His promises we dishonour Him and grieve His Holy Spirit let us keep fresh in our memory all the tender masses that God has shown us the tears He has wiped away the pains He has soothed the anxieties removed the fears dispelled the ones supplied the blessings bestowed thus strengthening ourselves for all that is before us through the remainder of our pilgrimage amen, amen I love what she says there let us keep fresh in our memory fresh in our memory all the tender masses that God has shown us one guy in his house he has a prayer room and on one side of the wall he has all his prayer requests written out in sticky notes and on the other side of his wall he has all the answered prayers so every morning when he goes to pray he gets to read what God has has done and in that way what God has done is fresh in his memory, amen that's something we should practice you never want to forget how good God has been because it will always lead you to fear and then the first part of it is also very beautiful when we seem to doubt God's love and distrust his promises we dishonor him and grieve his Holy Spirit it is better to be trusted than to be loved would you agree? it is better to be trusted than to be loved would you agree? yeah? alright that has been lesson 11 get over yourself with the teens connerstone connections I will ask Bill to end with a prayer sure, let's pray Heavenly Father thank you for this day thank you for the gift of life we thank you for your guidance and protection so far throughout the day and you pray that you take care of us and you pray that you be with us pray that you sustain us and cover us with your precious blood Heavenly Father I have learnt a lesson about handling fear and you know that it's you who keeps us away from our fears please help us to develop a strong connection with you so that you can be able to face our fears and to tackle fears in our daily lives pray that you continue to take care of all of us and be with us in Jesus name I pray amen