 Welcome, my name is Marie and it's the second quarter of the teens cornerstone connection lesson 2023 Going through lesson one. We have Baraka on the mission story in the orchestra We have Lee and George on the saxophone Sakai on the trumpet Subira on the clarinet Amy Seth and I on the violin Lastly, we have the lesson panel being done by some of the Nairobi central teens along with their teen teachers enjoy Happy Sabbath viewers. My name is Baraka and I'll be taking us through the mission story the mission story for the second quarter of this year will come from the inter-european division which Conceased of 20 countries such as Austria Belgium France Romania and Portugal Our first story and titled dire goes to kindergarten will be Coming from the country of Romania some interesting facts about Romania are Romania contains the heaviest building in the world, which is the Palace of Parliament in Buda Kest, which is the capital of Romania Romania was the first communist country to ever win the European Cup and at the moment contains approximately Seventh-day Adventists It was a big day for three-year-old Daya as it was her first time going to kindergarten She puts on her favorite clothes and shoes and was very excited to be going to kindergarten When she arrived she was nervous and scared at first cause It was a new environment and the new people and she didn't really know anyone yet However after two days she had fully acclimatized and began interacting with the other children and she began to really enjoy it After some time Daya's mother began to notice Changes in her behavior at home. She was more clean should wash her hands before eating Which was previously something she had to be forced to do she began to pray Before every meal, which was something they never did in their household Daya's mother was surprised at first but pleased to see that the kindergarten she had taken her daughter to was Changing her daughter in a positive way and making her develop good habits In Romania they have a between kindergarten and first grade they have zero grade where Children go and they basically are taught to read and write before they can join first grade When Daya went to zero grade She was the only child in the entire grade who was able to read and write Which surprised all her teachers and upon inquiry they discovered that It was all because of the special seventh day Adventist kindergarten that Daya had attended the third the 13th Sabbath offering will go to creating Creating More schools in Romania and opening an after-school Program for children like Daya where they can go and learn about God and Learn to pray as well as be taught to read and write We'll now say a short prayer for children like Daya So that the mission in Romania can continue to bless people How do you heavenly father? We thank you for this day. We thank you for a good work that The offerings do throughout the world. We pray that the 13th Sabbath offering may impact more and more children like Daya and help them Know more about you and learn about your word. This is my prayer in Jesus name. Amen Hello and welcome to a panel discussion for the lesson for today We are beginning a new quarter and the title of the first lesson is life is hard work and Before we begin I'd like to introduce the fellow panelists on the set and I'll start from my extreme left Please introduce yourself. Hello. My name is Sibirah Kundi and I'm a member of teens class And hello, my name is Ashley Silas and a member of teens class as well. Happy Sabbath My name is Missa T. Yambani and I'm your moderator for today. My name is Nico opio and before we begin I'd like to invite Sibirah to give us the opening prayer. Okay, let's pray Dear Father God, thank you so much for this day Thank you for giving us this wonderful opportunity to come on Sabbath and learn more about you The title of today's lesson is life is hard work Let us learn the importance of work in our lives for teens and of all ages throughout life I pray that today may be meaningful and people online as well as people with us today They learn key lessons in Jesus name. I pray and believe amen amen So thing is there actually things in life which are difficult to do So I'd like to throw it to each one of you. What is something that you would never have done or even imagine? Doing if it were not for someone who forced you to do it or circumstances that made it so so I'll start from you Nico tell us Okay, so There's something I did once which I don't think I'll ever do again One time we were required to distribute some flyers and I was walking around somewhere in the city and Distributing some flyers to people because we were trying to promote an evangelistic campaign that we had and I actually ended up getting caught and I was locked up like in a cell for a few Minutes or hours as I was waiting for someone to come The reason is the authorities required that all the flyers needed to have stumps and I didn't know this So I was kind of like the sacrificial lump. So if you told me to do that again, I wouldn't do it again I'll go second. I definitely think Bungie jumping guys do not do this ever especially because I fear heights extensively and this opportunity my friend invited me for me to go and Do bungee jumping but I was super shocked and she really forced me to do it because I reached there And I thought it was some sort of other activity and we ended up doing this really scary thing So I wouldn't have done it if I wasn't forced But that lesson that experience taught me a key lesson that I can face my fears regardless Well, I wouldn't be a fast one if circumstances hadn't led to it And if I had to choose I'd never be a fast one For me it would be going to boarding school while in high school It was a whole new experience the transition was hard coming from home and loving family Going into a new environment trying to transition and it was not just about reading While I was in primary school in high school. It was different You had to read and you had to do a whole lot of manual work right the morning you'd wake up early You'd have your morning Morning duties and even in the evening. It was hard work Eventually it turned out to be well, but if you told me to go back and start high school I probably wouldn't have done it And to just cap it off something that I would never I would never do again is What inordinately reading when I was younger that is I sacrificed my social life in order for me to read because I was Locked up in the house. I was an inmate of sorts I was under house arrest when I was younger for good reasons I now come to realize but I was under house arrest. I would never do that again actually Oh, yeah, definitely. I think as teenagers we have to balance our lives And like you said you being under house arrest in your own house With people having excessive social lives and also excessive work work work lives So it needs to be a good balance Yeah, I think when we think about all these jobs that we've ever done in life It comes out clearly to us that there always going to be things that you'd love to definitely do again And the other things that even if you paid all the money in the world you didn't do I don't know about you But if I'm given say a million shillings to do a job, would you still not do it again? If it was bungee jumping or going back to boarding maybe it can motivate you a bit to do it But as we look at the theme for today where life is hard we'd want to look at a story in the Bible where Someone was forced to do something that he didn't like and this will be from the book of Genesis chapter 39 And all the way to chapter 41 I'd like superior to give us a summary of this story so that we can understand the consequences or the circumstances Under which life was hard and Joseph had to work right and the title of today's story is life is hard work so the Lord was with Joseph and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master now Joseph was well built and Handsome and after a while his master's wife Took notice of Joseph and said come to bed with me, but he refused. He said with me in charge. He told her My master does not concern himself with anything in the house everything he owns He's entrusted to my care Therefore my master really really trusts me so I can't let him down How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God? When his master heard the false story that his wife told him she said this is how your slave treated me He burned with anger and Joseph's master took him and put him in prison The place in which the king's prisoners were confined After a while they've been in custody and everything and each of the two men the chief cut bearer and the chief baker of The king of Egypt who were being in held in prison had a dream a Same night and each dream had a meaning of its own So Joseph told them do not interpretations belong to God. Tell me your dreams Now the third day was Pharaoh's birthday and he gave a feast for all of his officials He lifted up the head of the chief cut bearer and the chief baker in the presence of his officials Now he restored the chief cut bearer so that he would put Her first cup into his hand, but he impaled the chief baker just as Joseph had said in his interpretation so two full years passed by and Faro had a dream he was standing by the Nile and seven cows came up from the river sleek and fat Now after them came seven other cows ugly and gaunt They came up and stood beside those on the riverbank Unfortunately the seven ugly and gaunt cows ate up the sleek fat cows then Pharaoh woke up So Joseph said Pharaoh's dreams are all in the same the seven good cows are seven years and the seven good heads of grain are also seven years Now the seven lean and ugly cows are seven years And so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind These are seven years of famine Then Pharaoh said since God gave you all this information There's no one so discerning and wise as you You shall be in charge of my palace and all my people are to submit to your orders Only in respect to the throne am I greater than you and that's basically it Well, but there's some quick questions. I think we can get from this. So first question Where do you see God's hand in the story? What do you think teacher go? Well, I see God's hand in several places It's not very easy to be sold into slavery and then you're going to slavery end up again us head of Potiphar's house and after going to head Potiphar's house you taken back to prison and eventually you get out of prison and become the cheap Visier of Egypt. I think that's a very key thing that happened there So God actually leads even when we have adverse circumstances in our lives Even when we think that God is not there for us We see that God was always leading Joseph like it's him who decided to give The king the dream two years after he'd been put in prison When Joseph was thinking that he had already been forgotten So I believe God is the one who put the dream so that he could remember that oh Joseph is in prison and I know that someone can interpret dreams Indeed. What do you think? What I think is where I'm seeing God's hand in this is that even though it seems to Joseph and to the readers When we be fast-read it is that Joseph was going from bad to worse I'm realizing that he was going from better to best Why is that because first he's throwing a pit, okay? That's not very glamorous, but then I was put in Potiphar's house That is he's the chief of the guard So in essence Joseph was moving from the 10th of his fathers to the palace He was moving closer to the palace that is now he was moving to Potiphar's house Which was of course close to the palace that is and from Potiphar's house. He was being Handed over to the the king's prison and the king's prison isn't where common-world criminals are kept. No This is a place which is where the king feels comfortable to throw men who he trusts a lot That is the chief calf bearer and the chief baker So I'm realizing that he's not taken to the king's prison he's close to the palace and once he's in the king's prison and has Risen through the ranks to the point where he was at the same point where he was in Potiphar's house He's now entranced to the kingdom. So through all these years. I can see God preparing Joseph for life in the palace Right. Okay. So you touched on really of what Joseph this is Joseph's journey, right? So another question I would like to post to you guys What made Joseph succeed so often in the tasks in which he undertook? What do you think? Joseph and Just like Joseph Seed did succeed in the task. He took because of one thing he learned He learned to do that which was his duty and not incline to his inclinations not to do that which he felt like doing and He was faithful in that which was least and so he was entrusted with much Right Yeah, two things. I like how Joseph moved from the Pete To the prison and to the palace three peas And two things that I pick out that helped Joseph to succeed in all that he was Given to do number one. He was industrious He was disciplined Yeah, and the second thing is that God actually blessed him because of his faithfulness. Yeah, so You find that when he was in the the house of the chief he was picked out among the other slaves and he was able to be educated and Given favor because of his industry. So this his industry and God's blessing I think we're able Enabled him to be able to succeed in all that he was able to do Right and really important right in life We can be having this beautiful coat of many colors and move on to our pit and our downfalls But all of this is a preparation. So whatever you do God has a plan for you regardless And for good and to give you hope for the future Amen Thank you, severe for elaborating on that story and Even before we continue we'd like to have a short break. I hope you're enjoying the lesson so far We'll have a short item of music before we continue digging deeper into this story Remember the title is life is hard work Welcome back. Thank you castrate team for the wonderful item of music That is him number 375 from our SDA him know work for the night is coming There's a time that will reach when there'll be no more work to be done And just as we are seeing throughout the story We've seen that it is important for us to work Even when we have a chance because there's a time when we might not be able to work You might be put in prison like Joseph. We might be sold by our brothers We might die and unfortunate circumstances So God actually just says work work work work for the night is coming Misati I'd like you to take us through the key text that we had for this lesson life is hard work So our key texts are the words of Pharaoh This is Pharaoh saying to Joseph that in as much as God has shown you all this There is no one as discerning and wise as you you shall be over my house And all my people shall be ruled according to your word Only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you? So in these words of Pharaoh what I am seeing here is that Pharaoh identifies positive traits in Joseph Based on those few minutes that he was with Joseph. I'd like to note that in that Pharaoh is not hearing he assay that he placed Joseph before him and so Joseph is discerning So Joseph is wise and said I will place you To rule over my house in essence Pharaoh had placed Joseph as the head of Egypt But now to placate his ego. He said you know what? In regards to the throne I will be greater than you But we know you are the brain of this superpower Amen, amen I love the way that is actually brought out where it's like Joseph is literally second in command to Pharaoh. No one else is greater than him It's no wonder his brothers were even surprised when they came to Egypt, but that's a story for another day But he was In a high high position even no egyptian had ever sent it to the throne to that magnitude And looking further into this the bible says in fast corinthians 15 verse 58 Therefore my beloved brethren Be steadfast and moveable Always abounding in the work of the lord for as much as you know That your labor is not in vain in the lord I believe this was the Moto and theme that joseph kept up within his life to the point of elevation that he received And afaro if we actually you can enlighten us on this more Yeah, you know the interesting part About this text is that our labor is not in vain. You know, it doesn't specify What what what kind of work you do? What's position you occupy just says that your labor is not in vain, you know, whatever you it is you're doing Whether you're reading your books or you're standing in the kitchen and doing the dishes your labor is not in vain As I said earlier the faithfulness of joseph the the little things which he did made him Learned to deal with the great things in his entire life he was The beloved of his father He he just experienced tenderness and the love of his father, but from when he was taken from his father's tent to the pit back to Potipha's house those few hours of his life taught him what he would not learn in an entire lifetime if he Did not go through that experience So god was glorified by the faithfulness of his servant And it was his purpose that impurity and uprightness The believer in god should appear in marked contrast to the worshipers of idols That That's the light of heavenly grace might shine forth amid the darkness of heathenism as mr. Tiha said In a few minutes of spending time in the presence of ferro ferro had already seen that Joseph was a man of discernment So the question i'd like to post each one of us is In our life How does our faithfulness affect the people in our circles? By the things we do and how we live our life How does it affect the view of god? How do people view god by seeing us and how faithful we are? Yeah, I think I with that in regards to that question Definitely as you two have really emphasized that ferro got See these beautiful qualities of joseph and from this he's determined that In a political sphere you can have this power within egypt, right? And furthermore saying that his discernment and his wisdom is coming in from god, right? Because god has given him this wonderful gift to interpret dreams and therefore As ferro did he didn't really believe in god as much But he believed in what joseph could do and joseph could do what he could do because he believed in god Therefore in our lives today as teens in an evangelical aspect we can go out and lead Christ-like lives and in this Many people our teachers and our friends can see the way we live our life and aspire to be like us And therefore we can attribute that the way we live is directed by god And on this matter I want to add Something else that ferro mentions is that he says that in joseph Are the spirits of the holy gods? okay, so Egypt was a polytheistic nation But now for ferro to say that within joseph at the speed of the holy gods He was in essence ascending joseph to the throne of a ferro that is because they believed that the ferro was An embodiment of ra the sun god that is so in essence what ferro was saying is you have the power To become another Ferro you in essence are what are the leader? But now we must maintain our semblance of power that is you must stand behind me For I am the one who has been invested With this authority, but you you joseph are the one who is making the difference here Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for the nice points on that And as we go on I'd like us to highlight some of the key texts and punchlines that we loved from the punchline section And I'd like to give each and every one of you an opportunity to actually share Which was the verse that spoke most to you? What was it that appealed to you and could you tell everyone why this was the case? Yes, we can start with you donna thank you and Throughout the lesson we find very many verses that talk about work our That encourages us to work and also That tell us what are the advantages and what should be our attitude towards work? So what stood out for me was actually first corinthians 15th grade and it says beloved Stand firm let nothing move you Always give yourself fully to the work of the lord because your labor is not in vain Indeed our labor is not in vain whether it's at home Or at school and even importantly in the work of god our labor is not in vain You mom um a verse that really stuck to me Was stuck out to me. Sorry was philippines chapter 2 verse 14 And 16 and it says do everything without grumbling or arguing And then I'll be able to boast on the day of christ that it did not run or labor in vain This is still adding on to your wonderful point But the first section is really important Do everything without grumbling as teenagers and honestly as humans work is not easy Life is hard and therefore we must work but this work is not A breeze no one really enjoys going to school or waking up every day in the morning to go to work But it is essential for our well-being therefore In everything that you do do it with a smile and be happy to Engage in work and reap what you sow because when you work, there are benefits, of course So as teens class, let's say if your mom tells you to make your bed Do it with pride and happiness and sometimes it's hard, but you can do it man um a verse that spoke up to me is verse 14 23 That says all hard work brings a profit, but mere talks lead only to poverty Other versions say idle charter brings poverty, you know We talk a lot. I mean it's Whether we are talking chatting You know, whatever it is we do we communicate a lot, but the question is What we say does it bring profit to our lives or not? Is it idle charter or mere talk? What are we talking about and how valuable is what we are talking about to us and what impression does it live upon us? And for myself, I want to emphasize Proverbs 14 23 by adding another proverb between it that is a word in season Is like apples of gold in settings of silver So I think there's a clear distinction between an between idle charter and a word in season So in essence what we should always do is our conversation should always be seasoned with grace that it may Enable the hero but now idle charter is just saying something but never actually affecting that which is said and By a word in season a word in season is always matched with the action That is right And I think there are three types of people In this world, right? So There are people who can talk like say I'm gonna do this I'm gonna become like the best runner in my school I'm gonna get an a in every single class and then there's the dreamers who really emphasize that talk But simply sit down and say oh, I wish I was this I wish I was this And then there's the doers people who actually go ahead combine their talk and their dreams and Turn it into something of reality So it's really important whatever we want to do some of us want to go to college or Want to have wonderful jobs and be rich? Well, you can dream all about it in your seat and at school But it's important for you to act out and act on it Amen So it actually means instead of talking we should work We put our money where our mouth is Yeah, because life is hard we can talk and talk and talk and it won't actually make any sense at the end of the day We have to show the efforts that we've put in advance for that So I'd like to share my key text, which I found was very nice for me It's the utronomy chapter 2 verse 7 Where the bible says for the lord thy god Had blessed thee in all the works of thy hand He knows thy walking through this great wilderness This 40 years the lord thy god hath been with thee and thou has lacked nothing Now the bible says the lord our god has blessed the work of our hands If we do not work there'll be nothing for the lord to bless Because there's nothing which we've actually gone to do and worked for it. So What does god have to bless? So if we want god to bless the little we have Then we have to do a lot with the little we have in fact looked 16 verse 10 says He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in that which is a lot So if we are faithful with the little that we have god will bless it That's even why if you remember the parable of the talents The person who said that he just kept his talents because he had one talent Actually got punishment because he did not use his talent as the lord wanted him to use it Now I'd like us to start focusing on the theme of how Faithfulness is actually a commitment Because Philippians chapter 4 verse 13 says I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me So Ashley could you speak more to faithfulness being a commitment? We want to be faithful like Joseph But is this really something easy that we just get up and say I'm gonna do this because talking is easy How do we actually get ourselves to work? Well easier said than done We were saying that says, you know, it's easier to give up than stay committed And that is how difficult commitment is You know you you literally yes. I want to do this but getting yourself out of bed Is a task Yeah, so faithfulness is a committed and is a commitment and It is something once you're committed to do something you do it Regardless how you feel whether you feel like it. You don't feel like it. You feel like waking up You don't feel like waking up You feel like this is so tiresome lord. Do I have to do it? You still have to do it because those little things teach you to Manage greater things and those little things is what makes shows who you are Joseph was kind and compassionate. He was sorrowful in the prison But because he made it a point in his life to encourage those prisoners He was not drowned in his sorrows, but he was lifted As he was he he was He was lifted above his troubles has lightened the sorrows of others you know We all dream to you know come from grass to graze but As we are given more responsibility comes A reason or more temptation You see when I was younger There were things that were not temptations to me. I couldn't go to the club I mean it didn't even cross my mind But this age I have the option. My friends are going and they text me and say, you know As you grow older the temptations that would not That would not bother you when you're younger. There's a quote in patex and prophets paid chapter 21 that says Chapter 20, sorry that says Just as the tempest leaves unharmed the lowly flower of the valley While it outputs the stately tree upon the mountain top. So those Who maintain integrity in humble life? May be dragged down to the pit by the temptations that are That are sale worldly success and honor Joseph Was a lowly man humble He lived a humble life You can imagine being put in a state of worldly success and honor What did this What kind of temptations did this bring his way? He was chief servant in potifah's house Potifah's wife was there to assail him temptations that assail the people in in In lofty in lofty seats would not assail me who's living a humble life And you know the higher you are the greater you fall So if you fall from somewhere that is if you're on a flyover And if I'm on the ground if I sleep and fall on the ground and if you sleep and fall all the way from the flyover who'll get hurt So one cannot stand upon a lofty height without danger and One thing that encourages us even as we you know seek to have to be this People in society to stand On the lofty pinnacles of the earth Is that the fear of the lord that is wisdom and to depart from evil that is understanding If this is our motto We will stand in the lofty pinnacles of the earth and the temptations that assail them we shall overcome because christ is our strength Amen, amen Thank you for that Faithfulness has to be something that we are committed to I don't know if you struggle with waking up. Is it eating at the wrong time? Is it going for the exercise that you know, you really need for the whole week Those are some of the things that we may be struggling with is it even just finishing your assignments in good time God is saying we need to be faithful in the little things I'd like us to read from the book of philippians chapter 2 verse 14 to 16 Where the bible says do all things without murmuring and disputing or complaining That ye may be blameless and harmless the sons of god Without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and pavass generation pavass nation among whom ye shine as lights in the world Holding forth the word of life That I may rejoice in the day of christ that I have not run in vain Neither labored in vain This verse is actually telling us That when we do things without murmuring or complaining like joseph and stay faithful Then when christ comes will be harmless and blameless nobody will ever say anything against us When joseph was in prison, we don't see any record of anybody bringing an accusation from about him, right? And we also don't see anyone talking in a negative way about joseph Except his brothers and the reason was because he was faithful He's told to do something he goes to them and they actually complain So it's joseph's brothers that were complaining about him and eventually ended up selling him into slavery But it's not because of what joseph Hadn't done or something that he had done to offend them except just telling them what god had done for him Even before we come to the end of this lesson I'd like to ask each other to share with us some interesting facts about joseph Indeed um The story of joseph has taught us quite a bit Two things I want to share with us that we learned when we were preparing for this lesson Is that when the pharaoh actually changed joseph's name to zafanath pioneer when he promoted him as a high official in egypt now this name is An egyptian name that means revealer of secret. Can you imagine The pharaoh who was an idolater or someone who worships idols was able to see Something special about joseph. He was a revealer of secrets and not only so he was able to recognize that actually the lord Or the god that joseph worships is the one true god So this has taught us that through our life and our character and even through our actions people might actually see us and We may reveal god through these other people through what we do and what we proclaim The other thing is that this wonderful and beautiful monuments in ancient egypt were actually built by these slaves from israel So we get that as much as the israelites was slaves in egypt They didn't grumble But they worked hard and we can even see a result of their hard work Even today up to date the wonderful Buildings that have stood the test of time in egypt were built by these slaves. So they didn't take Any thought into their hard circumstances But they worked hard and we see that their labor has folded them because all we can do is just you know Admire the magnificent buildings in egypt. So wherever you are just work hard. You never know where your works will do Yeah, and definitely like revealer of secrets. Okay, because god gave him the permission to Um, this wonderful gift of like you said interpreting dreams So that's revealing the wonderful secrets and also We learned later on in our lessons Because of what you do the way joseph worked so hard and he was faithful, of course To god he was able to come in this wonderful position and eventually Helped his family out So whoever you are with always be kind and never grumble in any way and be willing to work and serve And i'd like to add one more thing um The modesty and uprightness of joseph proved his innocence when His master's wife accused him You know if if potifar believed that Joseph had tried to do what his wife said He would have had him killed. I mean that is Insolence You know you'd have tried he would have had him killed But because he saw how joseph was faithful in his work all he needed to do was Protect the honor of his home So by that he put him in the king's prison Where he knew he would be safe and he would even come out at a given point so our uprightness The modesty and uprightness that had uniformly characterized his conduct to approve of his innocence may that be Our experience and amen to cup it a bit Is I want us to just I just imagine that potifar's wife Must have heard of joseph's appointment That is and I believe that was the ultimate What come back for joseph that was the ultimate comeback that As potifar's wife was offering herself like see this is I want to give you this thing. I want you To give you this thing then joseph Turned her down. This was the ultimate comeback because of all honesty Whatever whatever potifar's wife wanted to grant him He got it and he got it Without guilt without shame and at the same time he was given who if you go back to the history He was given a virgin that is asenath the daughter of potifara priest of of on So I think in essence If we come to the end or at that point was like hey, this is a nice comeback So of course god knows how to infuse a little humor into our lives if we allow him Well, yeah, it could be called humor, but really People are looking every single day to put us down and potifar's wife is really just representation of All these little voices There are people maybe in school who really don't want you to succeed People in the work who don't really want you to get a promotion. They're fighting There are so many people trying to achieve their own agendas selfishly, of course But it is important to know that if you stay faithful and To god for everything that you do and you work tirelessly god will reward you in his right time Amen, amen This just reminds me of matthew 5 verse 16 Where it says let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works And glorify your father which is in heaven When I look at joseph, I see a light shining in a dark place Regardless of the things that were going on in egypt joseph's light was shining bright So it's an encouragement to all the teens keep your light shining I think the motto we normally have is be the change that you want to see I believe joseph was that change in his time So we'd like to do the fundamental belief Which is growing in christ This is the 11th fundamental belief of the seventh day adventist church And we actually believe that growth in christ is a process As a baby is born They don't start walking They start by crawling their teeth normally are not yet out the teeth grow slowly And eventually they come out as mil tick before they get permanent teeth at a later time And this is what god actually calls us to do in our growth process with him When christ came into this world christ died on the cross And this really did something big for us because he gained and conquered the forces of evil in this world And as human beings we were bound to the chains of sin that satan had held us in for a while But christ came and said no more to the demonic forces that were existing in the world So as a result of that christ told us i leave you the holy spirit To help you with all the challenges with sin that you have And as a result of this each and every one of us has a personal experience where we can actually grow in christ By daily reading the word of god joining together in church worship singing with fellow believers We have a chance at growing but christ said it's not only about what you say or Think that you're doing you also have to show others that i am present in your life just like joseph did So over and above our personal relationship with god We have to do acts of kindness like Visiting the sick ministering to others And helping those who have needs around us This actually shows the evidence of our growth in christ and as a result of this growth God can say well done Good and faithful servant because we've actually done The things that christ did and christ lives in our hearts and dwells with us as a result So we believe that growth is something that has to happen We may eventually or we may initially start as babies But eventually will be adults in the word of god and we'll be working just as christ did and christ's character Will be our character and we've seen that clearly in the life of joseph So it is our prayer that as we continue with this study You may understand the lessons that god has for us Next week we'll be talking about The desert drama. I mean not the desert drama the could you do it? And the theme of the lesson is desert drama and the title for next week is could you do it? Please stay tuned join us once more and may god bless you as you consider and ponder over the lessons we've had today Happy and blessed sabbat Let's pray Creator of the universe. Thank you For the lesson that you have prepared for us that we have learned and understood that faithfulness is a commitment And you can help us grow in you With baby steps as we come along and learn to be perfect in your sight as you are perfect Our father we pray that these things as we learn them we may put them into practice in our daily living That they may not be in vain and even as we labor for you You may not it may not be in vain that when you come we might rejoice in seeing your face Be with us take care of us and bless us for there's a humble prayer in jesus name amen