WEBVTT
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♪ theme music ♪
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(Derek) Welcome to Hope Sabbath School,
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an in-depth, interactive study
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of the Word of God.
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We are studying about
two great men of God,
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Ezra and Nehemiah, one a priest,
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another a government official
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and lessons that we
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will apply to our lives today.
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Our topic today: Facing Opposition.
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It wasn't just back then,
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but every woman of God,
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every man of God, who's willing
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to be available to God today
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will face opposition.
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How do we deal with that
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in a way that makes us stronger
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and closer to God and even a blessing
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in the midst of the opposition?
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That's what we'll look at.
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We're glad you joined us
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for Hope Sabbath School.
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What a great series,
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and I'm glad that you're with us.
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How many of you here
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have experienced opposition
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at some point in your life?
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Yeah, right, but what Jesus says
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is when you suffer
for righteousness' sake,
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so we're talking about opposition
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because we're doing what God
wants us to do
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and not because we're
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just doing our own thing.
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We believe that we are
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going to learn some lessons today.
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We're glad you're with us.
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Oh, I forgot to tell you
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about our awesome app.
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I should open up my phone here,
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go to the Hope Channel app.
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You can go right there;
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you can choose whatever show.
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Here's Hope Sabbath School.
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There's one of my favorite participants,
Travis, right there,
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and there's Heide right there
on the screen.
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Heide, you're right here today.
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So, right there you can get
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lots of powerful insights.
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You can choose different languages,
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if you'd like to listen
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in other languages.
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Lots of other Bible-based programming
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besides Hope Sabbath School.
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Go to the App Store or to Google Play.
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You can download the free
Hope Channel app;
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it really is amazing.
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We had a simple one
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that we built a little while back that was
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in 150 countries around the world.
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This one is, like, turbo, okay?
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It's, like, super-awesome.
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So, if you haven't downloaded it,
get our new app.
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And talking about reaching
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different parts of the world,
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this is our first email
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from the island of Ukerewe,
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which is the largest inland island
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on the continent of Africa.
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Yes, it's in Lake Victoria.
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The country is Tanzania,
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and Baraka writes to us.
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He says, "I'm 43 years old,
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living on the island of Ukerewe,
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and I am following
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Hope Sabbath School every day."
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(Team) Amen!
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(Derek) By the way, I looked up Ukerewe
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because I didn't know anything about it.
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It is also a sanctuary for albinos
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because in some cultures
they're persecuted
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because they're albino,
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and that apparently is a refuge,
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the island of Ukerewe.
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"Be blessed, everyone in the class,
really blessed.
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God bless us all. Amen."
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(Team) Amen.
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(Derek) Well, Baraka, thanks for writing.
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We really are excited to know -
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we're going to go Google
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on our phones or computers
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and find the island of Ukerewe,
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which is your home.
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Cynthia writes to us from Michigan
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in the United States of America.
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Wait, Jason, aren't you from Michigan?
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Would you like to wave to Cynthia?
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"I am not a Seventh-day Adventist
Christian,
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but I enjoy your programs on Hope Channel,
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especially Hope Sabbath School."
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(Team) Amen.
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(Derek) "Your teaching
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is directly from the Bible."
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(Team) Amen.
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(Derek) That's it, right?
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"Where I previously lived,
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I attended a Baptist church.
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There are only a few differences,
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but I am pleased to see
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that we all worship the same God,
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and we love Him and Jesus Christ
our Savior."
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(Team) Amen.
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(Derek) "Actually, I watch
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a few Christian programs;
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it's very uplifting that the Word of God
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is still being broadcast on television."
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(Team) Amen.
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(Derek) "We can make good choices
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about what we watch," writes Cynthia,
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and we would agree, right?
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(Team) Amen. Yes.
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(Derek) And I'm so glad
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that you wrote to us, Cynthia,
from Michigan,
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and you're right; we can choose,
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and we're glad you're part
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of our Hope Sabbath School family.
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Here's a note from some donors, a couple.
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They say, "We're celebrating
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the continued blessings from the Lord."
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This is from the state of South Dakota.
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"We wish to share a small portion
with you.
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You and all of the Hope
Sabbath School team
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are a large part of our lives.
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We start each Sabbath
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watching Hope Sabbath School."
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(Team) Amen!
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(Derek) "Thank you for all you've done
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and continue to do.
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May we glorify the Lord
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until His soon return,"
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and a gift of 2,000 dollars
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to help the ministry
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of Bible-based programming
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for the world, right?
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And thank you, a donor-supported ministry;
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we appreciate each one
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who partners with us.
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Justina writes a short note
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to us from the Bahamas,
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and Justina says, "Thank you, team,
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for your continuous explanation
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and exploration of the Word of God."
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(Team) Amen.
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(Derek) "God is using Hope Sabbath School
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to bring much light to the viewers."
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And we say praise God, right?
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One last note...Oh, I was excited
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to receive this one
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from a pastor in Nebraska
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in the United States of America.
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Pastor Doyle writes to us;
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Doyle is his first name.
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"I am a senior pastor,
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Bible and Sunday school teacher,
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and I look forward to watching
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Hope Sabbath School every day."
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(Team) Amen!
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(Derek) "I thoroughly enjoy
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the straightforward, interactive,
no-nonsense teaching of the Bible.
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I love the perspectives of the team.
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I pray the Lord's continued blessings
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and success on you.
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I live in Omaha; I've been
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searching religious programming
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for the unadulterated gospel.
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I've grown weary of programs.
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While searching, though,
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I came across Hope Sabbath School,
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and the Holy Spirit
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quickened my desire to watch."
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(Team) Amen.
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(Derek) "I was so impressed
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with the clear, concise teachings
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and the interactive discussion.
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I'm a Baptist pastor, and my joy
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is teaching the Word of God.
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My preaching style is didactic,
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so you know while watching
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Hope Sabbath School, I'm in heaven.
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I now watch Hope Sabbath School
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six days a week, and I'm
looking forward to it.
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May God continue to pour out His blessings
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on you and the Hope Sabbath School team."
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God bless you, Pastor.
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Thank you for writing to us from Nebraska.
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Isn't it exciting, from an island
in Lake Victoria
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to a pastor in Nebraska,
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God is touching hearts.
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We'd love to hear from you
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wherever you live on planet Earth.
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I suppose we could get an email
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from off the planet, too,
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but sshope@hopetv.org.
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It really brings us joy, doesn't it?
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We're all volunteers; you're donating.
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I was a volunteer for seven years,
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and then they made me the president
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of the global television network.
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But we come here together
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because we believe in the mission. Amen?
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And we're glad you're part of it, too.
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Right now we need your help to sing.
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We're going to sing our theme song
from Psalm 25.
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"To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
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O my God, I trust in You."
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Let's sing it together.
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♪ music ♪
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(Derek) Three thousand years ago
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the psalmist sang that;
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it was a different tune,
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but I'm sure some day he'll say,
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"I know the words to that song,"
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written by the Holy Spirit,
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and we just found another tune.
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But it's beautiful, isn't it?
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I think it would have been
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a good song for Ezra and Nehemiah,
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"Let not my enemies triumph over me,"
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because they were facing opposition.
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We want to study about that
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and what it would mean for us
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as women of God/men of God
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in the last days of Earth's history,
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trying to be faithful
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to what God's called us to do,
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answering His call or His appeal
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and experiencing some opposition.
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Let's pray; Father in Heaven,
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lessons for us today from Your Word.
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Be our Teacher by Your Holy Spirit.
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And we thank You and praise You.
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In Jesus' name. Amen.
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(Team) Amen.
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(Derek) Well, we're going to start
00:10:01.811 --> 00:10:03.937
at Ezra, chapter 4,
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as Ezra and the wave...
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Is this the first wave
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of exiles returning, Ezra?
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First wave? Yes or no. No.
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First wave was Zerubbabel, right, in 538,
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and now we're in 457
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or thereabouts, right?
00:10:21.474 --> 00:10:23.405
So that's about 80 years or so.
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Second wave going back,
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and there's been some opposition
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in the first wave;
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now we're in the second wave,
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Ezra going back, chapter 4, verses 1 to 5.
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Liza, would you begin our study?
00:10:35.048 --> 00:10:38.741
And why do you think the Jewish exiles
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who return to Jerusalem
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refuse to allow other people
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to help them rebuild the temple?
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(Liza) I'll be reading
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from the New King James Version:
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(Derek) So Ezra is actually writing
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history about something that happened
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when Zerubbabel brought the first wave
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of exiles back, right?
00:11:59.927 --> 00:12:01.496
And when they come back,
00:12:01.496 --> 00:12:02.975
apparently some local people
00:12:02.975 --> 00:12:04.350
said, "We'll help you."
00:12:04.350 --> 00:12:05.761
First thing they wanted to do
00:12:05.761 --> 00:12:07.317
was to rebuild the temple.
00:12:07.317 --> 00:12:08.325
Later they are going
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to rebuild the walls, right
(first the temple).
00:12:10.705 --> 00:12:15.174
Why does Zerubbabel, Jeshua, or Joshua,
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and those who came back,
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why did they refuse help?
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You say, "I thought we'd need
00:12:20.177 --> 00:12:22.137
all the help we could get." Heide?
00:12:22.137 --> 00:12:23.279
(Heide) I was wondering
00:12:23.279 --> 00:12:24.747
the same thing when I read it.
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I was like, "What? What in the world?"
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It sounds like they're saying,
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"We worship the same God,
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and we want to come and help you."
00:12:31.908 --> 00:12:33.956
Why would they reject him?
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Reject them, I'm sorry.
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So I inquired a little more,
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and I found from an author
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that she mentioned that they had
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already fallen into disobedience
00:12:45.391 --> 00:12:47.201
as a result of mixing
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with surrounding countries and tribes,
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and that had led them
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into a state of apostasy and disobedience.
00:12:57.498 --> 00:13:00.238
And they were trying to avoid doing that,
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that there was actually wisdom in this,
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that they saw this as a ploy of the enemy
00:13:05.906 --> 00:13:08.980
to lead them away from obedience to God,
00:13:08.980 --> 00:13:10.082
which is what got them
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into that position to start with,
00:13:12.300 --> 00:13:15.718
"and we want to do everything we can
to avoid that."
00:13:15.718 --> 00:13:17.301
And then the way that they react
00:13:17.301 --> 00:13:18.856
shows that they were right.
00:13:18.859 --> 00:13:20.135
(Derek) Ah, that's right.
00:13:20.135 --> 00:13:21.261
Even if you didn't know
00:13:21.261 --> 00:13:22.426
all of that background,
00:13:22.426 --> 00:13:23.987
which is quite interesting;
00:13:23.987 --> 00:13:26.002
that's the "rest of the story."
00:13:26.002 --> 00:13:28.564
All you need to do is read how they react
00:13:28.564 --> 00:13:31.262
in the next few verses, right? Puia?
00:13:31.262 --> 00:13:33.024
(Puia) From the description
00:13:33.024 --> 00:13:34.848
of their name itself here,
00:13:34.848 --> 00:13:39.098
Ezra used "adversaries;"
they can't be friends.
00:13:39.098 --> 00:13:40.221
(Derek) But he may not
00:13:40.221 --> 00:13:41.939
have known that immediately, right?
00:13:41.939 --> 00:13:44.713
It may have taken a little time
to see that,
00:13:44.713 --> 00:13:47.411
but you've got here,
00:13:47.411 --> 00:13:50.231
as soon as they don't get their way,
00:13:50.231 --> 00:13:52.047
they show their true colors.
00:13:52.047 --> 00:13:53.922
(Marcus) They discourage, and then they
00:13:53.922 --> 00:13:56.236
try to bring trouble to them
as they're building.
00:13:56.236 --> 00:13:58.360
(Derek) They hire counselors
00:13:58.360 --> 00:14:02.201
against them to frustrate them.
00:14:02.201 --> 00:14:04.361
So they're using deception.
00:14:04.361 --> 00:14:05.760
They're not coming, saying,
00:14:05.760 --> 00:14:07.050
"We're your enemies.
00:14:07.050 --> 00:14:08.626
We've gone into apostasy,
00:14:08.626 --> 00:14:12.192
and we're trying to hinder your work."
00:14:12.192 --> 00:14:14.661
Does that strategy of deception
00:14:14.661 --> 00:14:18.507
remind you of anybody else? Stephanie.
00:14:18.507 --> 00:14:20.114
(Stephanie) In the Garden of Eden
00:14:20.114 --> 00:14:21.088
with Adam and Eve
00:14:21.088 --> 00:14:24.783
when Satan came to deceive.
00:14:24.783 --> 00:14:26.561
(Derek) And says, "Eat this fruit;
00:14:26.561 --> 00:14:27.964
it will kill you, and it will
00:14:27.964 --> 00:14:31.452
cause misery to all of your descendants."
00:14:31.452 --> 00:14:34.163
That would have been the truth, right?
00:14:34.163 --> 00:14:35.564
"But you'll be like God.
00:14:35.564 --> 00:14:36.824
You'll be wise like God.
00:14:36.824 --> 00:14:38.567
Your eyes will be opened."
00:14:38.567 --> 00:14:40.250
Can you think of any other times
00:14:40.250 --> 00:14:42.517
that Satan....This is deception,
00:14:42.517 --> 00:14:43.910
and the real enemy, again,
00:14:43.910 --> 00:14:45.184
is not these people
00:14:45.184 --> 00:14:48.166
but Satan and his kingdom behind.
00:14:48.166 --> 00:14:49.678
Can you think of other times
00:14:49.678 --> 00:14:53.117
when Satan uses deception
00:14:53.117 --> 00:14:55.425
to try to lead people astray? Gladys?
00:14:55.425 --> 00:14:56.927
(Gladys) I think of Solomon
00:14:56.927 --> 00:14:58.417
when he was being king.
00:14:58.417 --> 00:15:00.335
God had already promised him
00:15:00.335 --> 00:15:01.586
that he will be wise
00:15:01.586 --> 00:15:03.079
and that He will be with him.
00:15:03.079 --> 00:15:05.045
And yet he married all these women
00:15:05.045 --> 00:15:07.033
because he was afraid that these kingdoms
00:15:07.033 --> 00:15:09.015
will reunite against him.
00:15:09.015 --> 00:15:10.456
He tried to do it his way,
00:15:10.456 --> 00:15:12.455
so it was kind of like the devil
00:15:12.455 --> 00:15:14.484
trying to influence what God
00:15:14.484 --> 00:15:17.858
had already prescribed to be good,
for something evil.
00:15:17.858 --> 00:15:20.295
So he aligned himself with these women
00:15:20.295 --> 00:15:23.398
that, at the end, just departed his heart
00:15:23.398 --> 00:15:24.905
from the plan of God.
00:15:24.905 --> 00:15:26.788
(Derek) And maybe the enemy said
00:15:26.788 --> 00:15:28.707
to Solomon, "Build some temples
00:15:28.707 --> 00:15:32.119
just to keep your wives happy."
00:15:32.119 --> 00:15:33.561
He's not saying, "And you can
00:15:33.561 --> 00:15:35.411
commit apostasy, too,
00:15:35.411 --> 00:15:37.276
and you can worship false gods."
00:15:37.276 --> 00:15:38.622
But you're absolutely right,
00:15:38.622 --> 00:15:40.105
it did turn his heart away.
00:15:40.105 --> 00:15:41.158
That's an example.
00:15:41.158 --> 00:15:42.995
Someone else, another example. Pedro?
00:15:42.995 --> 00:15:44.212
(Pedro) I would say Jesus
00:15:44.212 --> 00:15:45.622
when He was tempted by Satan.
00:15:45.622 --> 00:15:47.786
He didn't come, like, "Oh, I'm Satan.
00:15:47.786 --> 00:15:50.042
You're in my territory; get out of here."
00:15:50.042 --> 00:15:52.472
No, no, "Make some bread
out of this rock."
00:15:52.472 --> 00:15:54.242
And we can see this here
00:15:54.242 --> 00:15:57.167
that they're trying to trick them
00:15:57.167 --> 00:15:58.626
because if they helped,
00:15:58.626 --> 00:16:00.493
it would also give them the opportunity
00:16:00.493 --> 00:16:01.964
to say, "Well, since we built,
00:16:01.964 --> 00:16:04.220
we want to bring our gods
into your temple now."
00:16:04.220 --> 00:16:06.145
(Derek) Ah, "We helped build the temple,
00:16:06.145 --> 00:16:09.485
so we want a room for our gods."
Okay, Travis?
00:16:09.487 --> 00:16:11.092
(Travis) I think of Balaam.
00:16:11.092 --> 00:16:17.174
You know, the story where he gets paid
00:16:17.174 --> 00:16:23.590
to go and trick or cast a spell for money.
00:16:23.590 --> 00:16:25.285
And that's just how Satan works.
00:16:25.285 --> 00:16:27.433
He wants to make things look attractive,
00:16:27.433 --> 00:16:30.636
but yet their's deception in it.
00:16:30.636 --> 00:16:33.366
(Derek) So, how can we avoid
00:16:33.366 --> 00:16:34.801
that kind of deception?
00:16:34.801 --> 00:16:36.084
We're talking about wanting
00:16:36.084 --> 00:16:39.407
to, in this day, be faithful to God.
00:16:39.407 --> 00:16:41.588
We're going to experience opposition.
00:16:41.588 --> 00:16:45.779
How can we be alert, Jason, when people
00:16:45.779 --> 00:16:48.702
seem to be friendly and helpful,
00:16:48.702 --> 00:16:50.790
but there's actually deception at work?
00:16:50.790 --> 00:16:52.579
(Jason) Thinking of Pedro's reference
00:16:52.579 --> 00:16:53.650
to Jesus' temptations,
00:16:53.650 --> 00:16:55.477
Jesus responded with, "It is written."
00:16:55.477 --> 00:16:57.013
He went right back to Scripture.
00:16:57.013 --> 00:16:58.262
So, knowing the Scriptures
00:16:58.262 --> 00:17:00.414
and being able quote the Scriptures
00:17:00.414 --> 00:17:02.777
is a very powerful tool against deception.
00:17:02.787 --> 00:17:05.147
(Derek) Okay. Anybody else? Yes, Gladys?
00:17:05.147 --> 00:17:07.449
(Gladys) I wouldn't say just quote
the Scripture,
00:17:07.449 --> 00:17:09.255
but having that relationship with God
00:17:09.255 --> 00:17:11.696
when the Word is living in you.
00:17:11.696 --> 00:17:12.837
Then you will be able
00:17:12.837 --> 00:17:14.618
to recognize any counterfeit.
00:17:14.618 --> 00:17:16.512
Because somebody who works in a bank,
00:17:16.512 --> 00:17:19.402
they don't study every counterfeit money
that comes out.
00:17:19.402 --> 00:17:20.824
They just spend time
00:17:20.824 --> 00:17:23.453
recognizing and knowing the real money,
00:17:23.453 --> 00:17:24.721
so when counterfeit comes,
00:17:24.721 --> 00:17:26.139
they recognize it right away.
00:17:26.139 --> 00:17:28.572
So should we, when we study
the Word of God,
00:17:28.572 --> 00:17:31.457
it becomes part of our daily lives.
00:17:31.457 --> 00:17:33.376
So, when something like that comes,
00:17:33.376 --> 00:17:35.013
it will be easier to recognize.
00:17:35.013 --> 00:17:37.053
(Derek) So let's look at another aspect,
00:17:37.053 --> 00:17:39.238
another attempt at deception
00:17:39.238 --> 00:17:41.694
in Ezra, chapter 5, with someone
00:17:41.694 --> 00:17:44.601
by the name of Tattenai, governor
00:17:44.601 --> 00:17:47.219
of the region beyond the Euphrates.
00:17:47.219 --> 00:17:48.802
Puia, if you could take us
00:17:48.802 --> 00:17:50.586
to Ezra, chapter 5,
00:17:50.586 --> 00:17:51.717
let's hear the story
00:17:51.717 --> 00:17:54.125
in verses 8 through 17.
00:17:54.125 --> 00:17:57.643
Now, this is kind of an official
00:17:57.643 --> 00:18:01.105
wanting to use deception
00:18:01.105 --> 00:18:03.362
to hinder the work of God.
00:18:03.362 --> 00:18:04.629
(Puia) And I'll be reading
00:18:04.629 --> 00:18:06.162
from the New King James Version,
00:18:06.162 --> 00:18:09.203
Ezra, chapter 5, verses 8 through 17:
00:20:18.747 --> 00:20:21.991
(Derek) Why is he writing this letter?
00:20:21.991 --> 00:20:24.525
He has no connection with the building
00:20:24.525 --> 00:20:27.255
of the house of God.
00:20:27.255 --> 00:20:28.714
(Stephanie) Stir up trouble.
00:20:28.714 --> 00:20:30.754
(Derek) What's he trying to do, Stephanie?
00:20:30.754 --> 00:20:32.116
(Stephanie) Stir up trouble.
00:20:32.116 --> 00:20:33.560
(Derek) Is he hoping that they
00:20:33.560 --> 00:20:35.176
won't be able to find the record,
00:20:35.176 --> 00:20:38.139
or check the records and see
00:20:38.139 --> 00:20:40.676
if it's actually what they're saying?
00:20:40.676 --> 00:20:42.319
(Marcus) Right, yeah, he's trying
00:20:42.319 --> 00:20:43.729
to hinder the work as well.
00:20:43.729 --> 00:20:45.352
He's a government official,
00:20:45.352 --> 00:20:47.853
but he's, like, on the other side
of the river.
00:20:47.853 --> 00:20:49.757
And so he's trying to kind of spy
00:20:49.757 --> 00:20:51.378
and say, "As an official,
00:20:51.378 --> 00:20:52.547
what are you doing here,
00:20:52.547 --> 00:20:54.233
and why are you building here?
00:20:54.233 --> 00:20:56.419
Who has given you authority
to build here?"
00:20:56.419 --> 00:20:58.293
And sometimes when we face opposition,
00:20:58.293 --> 00:21:00.607
it's hard to come back and stand and say,
00:21:00.607 --> 00:21:03.487
"By the word of our God,
00:21:03.487 --> 00:21:05.639
we are here doing His work."
00:21:05.639 --> 00:21:07.447
That's not always easy to say,
00:21:07.447 --> 00:21:09.477
especially in the face of somebody
00:21:09.477 --> 00:21:11.475
who may be in authority over us.
00:21:11.475 --> 00:21:13.243
(Derek) So, how do you think
00:21:13.243 --> 00:21:16.680
that the people of God responded
00:21:16.680 --> 00:21:21.263
to that letter that was sent back
to the king? Panic?
00:21:21.263 --> 00:21:22.254
(Travis) Prayer.
00:21:22.254 --> 00:21:24.316
(Derek) Prayer, "Okay, Lord,
00:21:24.316 --> 00:21:26.784
You guided, You worked miraculously
00:21:26.784 --> 00:21:29.979
to convince the king to make the decree.
00:21:29.979 --> 00:21:33.118
You need to work miraculously
00:21:33.118 --> 00:21:35.757
in this deceptive work that this governor
00:21:35.757 --> 00:21:37.049
is trying to accomplish."
00:21:37.049 --> 00:21:38.718
Let's see what happens.
00:21:38.718 --> 00:21:40.267
Laurel, could you read for us
00:21:40.267 --> 00:21:43.829
in chapter 6, verses 11 and 12.
00:21:43.829 --> 00:21:46.313
Actually, King Darius sends
00:21:46.313 --> 00:21:49.514
a warning back to this governor
00:21:49.514 --> 00:21:53.066
in chapter 6 of Ezra, verses 11 and 12.
00:21:53.066 --> 00:21:54.328
(Laurel) I'll be reading
00:21:54.328 --> 00:21:56.185
from the New American Standard Bible:
00:22:33.338 --> 00:22:35.297
(Derek) What's the takeaway lesson?
00:22:35.297 --> 00:22:38.653
(Heide) That backfired.
00:22:38.653 --> 00:22:40.613
(Derek) For those of you who didn't hear,
00:22:40.613 --> 00:22:43.548
Heide said, "That kind of sneaky plot
00:22:43.548 --> 00:22:46.116
of Tattenai backfired."
00:22:46.127 --> 00:22:47.757
And the king basically said,
00:22:47.757 --> 00:22:50.157
"Anyone who opposes what I have ordered,
00:22:50.157 --> 00:22:52.299
let a timber be pulled out of his house,
00:22:52.299 --> 00:22:55.014
made into a gallows or hanged, mine says.
00:22:55.014 --> 00:22:57.397
Yours says "impaled on it,
00:22:57.397 --> 00:22:59.360
and his house turned into a heap."
00:22:59.360 --> 00:23:03.021
In other words, God is able to use, again,
00:23:03.021 --> 00:23:08.889
a, can I call him a pagan monarch?
00:23:08.889 --> 00:23:10.665
And yet somehow God's at work
00:23:10.665 --> 00:23:13.386
in that man's heart, right,
00:23:13.386 --> 00:23:17.166
to hinder the deceptions
00:23:17.166 --> 00:23:20.954
and the plotting of the enemy. Puia?
00:23:20.954 --> 00:23:22.976
(Puia) I'm reminded of a verse
in Proverbs.
00:23:22.976 --> 00:23:24.549
I forgot where, but the principle
00:23:24.549 --> 00:23:26.993
is there that says that when you try
00:23:26.993 --> 00:23:29.235
to set a trap for someone,
00:23:29.235 --> 00:23:30.348
it comes back to you.
00:23:30.348 --> 00:23:32.560
(Derek) You can become caught
in your own trap?
00:23:32.560 --> 00:23:34.332
(Puia) Yeah, caught in your own trap.
00:23:34.332 --> 00:23:37.289
So I think what this person here,
the governor, is trying to do
00:23:37.289 --> 00:23:39.007
is set a trap for the people of God,
00:23:39.007 --> 00:23:41.589
intentionally tried to set a trap.
00:23:41.589 --> 00:23:44.285
And that can backfire, like Heide said.
00:23:44.285 --> 00:23:45.825
So we can learn the lesson there
00:23:45.825 --> 00:23:50.268
that, even today, if someone
00:23:50.268 --> 00:23:53.701
is trying to set a trap,
00:23:53.701 --> 00:23:56.145
they better make sure that they are
00:23:56.145 --> 00:23:57.833
doing it for the right reason.
00:23:57.833 --> 00:23:59.248
(Derek) And we don't rejoice
00:23:59.248 --> 00:24:01.357
that he got caught in his own trap,
00:24:01.357 --> 00:24:03.253
but we do rejoice that God
00:24:03.253 --> 00:24:05.435
delivered His people, right?
00:24:05.435 --> 00:24:06.597
(Travis) This reminds me
00:24:06.597 --> 00:24:09.166
of the story of Mordecai and Haman;
it really does.
00:24:09.166 --> 00:24:10.192
(Derek) Oh, yes.
00:24:10.192 --> 00:24:12.180
(Travis) I mean, there's such a direct...
00:24:12.180 --> 00:24:14.110
(Derek) And actually that's happening...
00:24:14.110 --> 00:24:15.632
(Travis) In the same time, yeah.
00:24:15.632 --> 00:24:17.012
(Derek) ...same time period.
00:24:17.012 --> 00:24:18.587
(Travis) The same thing happens,
00:24:18.587 --> 00:24:20.489
only it turns out really bad for Haman.
00:24:20.489 --> 00:24:22.625
(Derek) He really is hanged on the gallows
00:24:22.625 --> 00:24:24.150
he prepared to hang
00:24:24.150 --> 00:24:27.454
one of God's ambassadors, right,
Mordecai.
00:24:27.457 --> 00:24:30.331
So, yeah, there are some powerful lessons.
00:24:30.331 --> 00:24:32.504
Well, in the midst of these oppositions,
00:24:32.504 --> 00:24:35.589
tricks, traps, scheming,
00:24:35.589 --> 00:24:37.832
God sends some prophets
00:24:37.832 --> 00:24:39.772
to encourage His people.
00:24:39.772 --> 00:24:42.696
So let's look in Ezra, chapter 5,
00:24:42.696 --> 00:24:45.019
the first two verses,
00:24:45.019 --> 00:24:47.181
and we'll see what message
00:24:47.181 --> 00:24:49.748
these prophets bring.
00:24:49.748 --> 00:24:54.148
Ezra, chapter 5, Jason, first two verses,
00:24:54.148 --> 00:24:57.391
are these prophets, whose names
you recognize?
00:24:57.391 --> 00:24:59.285
Let's see what they say.
00:24:59.285 --> 00:25:00.549
(Jason) I'll be reading
00:25:00.549 --> 00:25:02.112
from the New King James Version,
00:25:02.112 --> 00:25:04.797
Ezra, chapter 5, verses 1 and 2:
00:25:35.120 --> 00:25:37.590
(Derek) Now, it doesn't tell them,
exactly, here,
00:25:37.590 --> 00:25:38.968
what they prophesied,
00:25:38.968 --> 00:25:43.470
but what was the response to the prophecy?
00:25:43.470 --> 00:25:46.556
"Go to work," "Let's go and build," right?
00:25:46.556 --> 00:25:48.370
So the prophecy must have been
00:25:48.370 --> 00:25:50.642
somewhat related to, "No weapon
00:25:50.642 --> 00:25:53.842
that's fashioned against you
will prosper," right?
00:25:53.842 --> 00:25:55.133
"You need to keep doing
00:25:55.133 --> 00:25:56.699
what God has asked you to do."
00:25:56.699 --> 00:25:58.074
(Travis) It's amazing to me,
00:25:58.074 --> 00:25:59.694
as we finish reading in verse 2,
00:25:59.694 --> 00:26:02.038
that the prophets of God
were there helping them.
00:26:02.038 --> 00:26:04.753
You know, being a messenger
00:26:04.753 --> 00:26:06.342
doesn't mean just being a voice.
00:26:06.342 --> 00:26:08.391
It means getting your hands dirty as well,
00:26:08.391 --> 00:26:10.684
getting in there and being involved
in the work.
00:26:10.684 --> 00:26:11.924
(Derek) So, helping them,
00:26:11.924 --> 00:26:13.328
not just by prophesying,
00:26:13.328 --> 00:26:15.230
but actually construction?
00:26:15.230 --> 00:26:17.162
(Travis) Right, laboring.
00:26:17.162 --> 00:26:18.207
(Derek) Yes, Marcus.
00:26:18.207 --> 00:26:20.325
(Marcus) And also encouragement.
00:26:20.325 --> 00:26:22.034
The biggest thing is that they were
00:26:22.034 --> 00:26:23.963
raised up at a time when God
00:26:23.963 --> 00:26:25.639
knew and saw that His people
00:26:25.639 --> 00:26:27.944
were kind of depressed, kind of low,
00:26:27.944 --> 00:26:30.414
that outside forces were trying
00:26:30.414 --> 00:26:32.700
to stop them from completing the work.
00:26:32.700 --> 00:26:34.157
And also, too, they were
00:26:34.157 --> 00:26:36.312
kind of a little bit resting
on their laurels.
00:26:36.312 --> 00:26:37.898
So God is like, "Come on,
00:26:37.898 --> 00:26:39.997
get back to work, get back to work."
00:26:39.997 --> 00:26:42.051
That's kind of what they're saying, too.
00:26:42.051 --> 00:26:44.842
(Derek) Do you recognize those names,
Haggai and Zechariah?
00:26:44.842 --> 00:26:45.562
(Team) Yes.
00:26:45.562 --> 00:26:47.092
(Derek) So, let's go to the book
00:26:47.092 --> 00:26:49.002
that bears Haggai's name, chapter 1,
00:26:49.002 --> 00:26:50.515
and we'll read there
00:26:50.515 --> 00:26:52.885
a specific message from God
00:26:52.885 --> 00:26:56.999
that was delivered to Zerubbabel
by the prophet.
00:26:56.999 --> 00:26:58.692
Travis, would you read,
00:26:58.692 --> 00:27:00.581
starting in chapter 1,
00:27:00.581 --> 00:27:02.381
verses 1 through 11.
00:27:02.381 --> 00:27:03.995
What's the message that God
00:27:03.995 --> 00:27:06.732
brings to Zerubbabel?
00:27:06.732 --> 00:27:08.065
(Travis) And I'll be reading
00:27:08.065 --> 00:27:09.674
from the New King James Version:
00:28:52.053 --> 00:28:55.310
(Derek) What's the Lord saying
through the prophet?
00:28:55.310 --> 00:28:57.718
In one sentence, yes, Puia.
00:28:57.718 --> 00:28:59.720
(Puia) The lack of prosperity
in their land
00:28:59.720 --> 00:29:01.434
is because they have been neglecting
00:29:01.434 --> 00:29:03.671
to put God's interests first.
00:29:03.671 --> 00:29:05.114
(Derek) So, put God first.
00:29:05.114 --> 00:29:07.169
"Seek first the Kingdom," Jesus said,
00:29:07.169 --> 00:29:08.747
and the other things you need...?
00:29:08.747 --> 00:29:10.231
(Team) Shall be added unto you.
00:29:10.231 --> 00:29:11.610
(Derek) Will be added to you.
00:29:11.610 --> 00:29:13.490
So basically, and that's why we know
00:29:13.490 --> 00:29:15.078
they got up and started building,
00:29:15.078 --> 00:29:18.096
he was saying, "That's what you need
to be doing."
00:29:18.107 --> 00:29:19.857
Well, let's see how they responded,
00:29:19.857 --> 00:29:21.062
at least according
00:29:21.062 --> 00:29:23.289
to Prophet Haggai's report.
00:29:23.289 --> 00:29:25.248
Marcus, could you continue reading
00:29:25.248 --> 00:29:27.276
in Haggai, chapter 1,
00:29:27.276 --> 00:29:30.193
verses 12 through 15?
00:29:30.193 --> 00:29:31.865
(Marcus) Sure, and I'll be reading
00:29:31.865 --> 00:29:33.280
from the King James Version:
00:30:25.041 --> 00:30:26.300
(Derek) In other words,
00:30:26.300 --> 00:30:27.700
when they determined -
00:30:27.700 --> 00:30:30.119
this is an important life principle -
00:30:30.124 --> 00:30:32.608
when they determined that they would obey
00:30:32.608 --> 00:30:34.819
what God asked them to do,
00:30:34.819 --> 00:30:37.578
what did God do for them?
00:30:37.578 --> 00:30:39.667
He what? He stirred up?
00:30:39.667 --> 00:30:40.622
What does that mean,
00:30:40.622 --> 00:30:42.034
"stirred up their spirits"?
00:30:42.044 --> 00:30:43.249
(Gladys) Encouraged them.
00:30:43.249 --> 00:30:44.915
(Derek) He encouraged them, right?
00:30:44.915 --> 00:30:46.291
He gave them a...?
00:30:46.291 --> 00:30:47.407
(Marcus) Renewed vigor.
00:30:47.407 --> 00:30:49.130
(Derek) A renewed vigor, thank you,
00:30:49.141 --> 00:30:50.477
to say, "You know what?
00:30:50.477 --> 00:30:52.570
With God, we can do this.
00:30:52.570 --> 00:30:53.923
We're going to do what God
00:30:53.923 --> 00:30:55.357
has asked us to do."
00:30:55.357 --> 00:30:56.699
But it was a response
00:30:56.699 --> 00:30:59.954
to a word of...I don't know
00:30:59.954 --> 00:31:01.401
if "rebuke" is the right word,
00:31:01.401 --> 00:31:03.297
but it was like, "Hey, you're
00:31:03.297 --> 00:31:05.574
a little bit distracted building
00:31:05.574 --> 00:31:10.386
your condominiums here," right,
00:31:10.386 --> 00:31:12.666
"while My house is in ruins."
00:31:12.666 --> 00:31:13.966
And that's not just saying,
00:31:13.966 --> 00:31:15.442
"I want My house before yours."
00:31:15.442 --> 00:31:16.751
It's saying, "What's your
00:31:16.751 --> 00:31:18.819
top priority in life?"
00:31:18.819 --> 00:31:21.908
Can you think of a time in your life
00:31:21.908 --> 00:31:23.347
when God sent a Word
00:31:23.347 --> 00:31:26.099
to you through a prophet,
00:31:26.099 --> 00:31:27.723
and probably it will be a prophet
00:31:27.723 --> 00:31:29.834
who has written something down, right -
00:31:29.834 --> 00:31:31.819
God could still call a person to give you
00:31:31.819 --> 00:31:33.797
a prophetic Word, too, I suppose -
00:31:33.797 --> 00:31:35.820
but when God kind of redirected
00:31:35.820 --> 00:31:39.315
your course through His Word,
00:31:39.315 --> 00:31:40.768
and as you look back
00:31:40.768 --> 00:31:42.094
you thank Him for that.
00:31:42.094 --> 00:31:45.908
Anybody, can you think
about a time? Billy.
00:31:45.908 --> 00:31:47.889
(Billy) So, as you know, it was like
00:31:47.889 --> 00:31:49.676
the recent elections that happened
00:31:49.676 --> 00:31:51.724
in the United States...
00:31:51.724 --> 00:31:53.434
(Derek) We're evergreen here,
00:31:53.434 --> 00:31:55.401
so we don't know about recent elections,
00:31:55.401 --> 00:31:57.501
but go ahead and share your story.
00:31:57.501 --> 00:31:58.895
(Billy) So, my personal story
00:31:58.895 --> 00:32:00.065
is that I was struggling
00:32:00.065 --> 00:32:01.618
with the person who got elected,
00:32:01.618 --> 00:32:04.342
and I felt sometimes a resentment.
00:32:04.342 --> 00:32:07.609
And then God sent me a Word in Matthew 5,
00:32:07.609 --> 00:32:09.582
talking about loving your enemies.
00:32:09.582 --> 00:32:11.869
And that was very radical,
00:32:11.869 --> 00:32:13.128
because it was somebody
00:32:13.128 --> 00:32:15.374
that I felt like was going
00:32:15.374 --> 00:32:17.499
the opposite direction in terms
00:32:17.499 --> 00:32:19.379
of encouraging hate,
00:32:19.379 --> 00:32:20.571
and now God is asking me
00:32:20.571 --> 00:32:22.657
to add that person to my prayer list.
00:32:22.657 --> 00:32:24.324
(Derek) So, if a person is watching
00:32:24.324 --> 00:32:26.810
from Venezuela or they're watching
00:32:26.810 --> 00:32:29.936
from the continent of Africa,
00:32:29.936 --> 00:32:31.917
they're going to apply that
00:32:31.917 --> 00:32:33.349
to their own situation.
00:32:33.357 --> 00:32:36.344
What if a leader comes into power
00:32:36.344 --> 00:32:39.428
that I don't like, you know?
00:32:39.428 --> 00:32:41.389
I may live in Thailand or I may live,
00:32:41.389 --> 00:32:43.510
just, you know, they may have a new king,
00:32:43.510 --> 00:32:46.703
or they may have a new president
or prime minister,
00:32:46.703 --> 00:32:49.509
and you're saying that the Spirit of God
00:32:49.509 --> 00:32:52.782
said to you, "You need to pray
for that person."
00:32:52.782 --> 00:32:54.425
(Billy) Especially in Matthew 5,
00:32:54.425 --> 00:32:55.639
talking about, you know,
00:32:55.639 --> 00:32:57.315
we need to pray for our enemies.
00:32:57.315 --> 00:32:58.611
(Derek) "Love your enemies,
00:32:58.611 --> 00:33:00.230
bless those who curse you," yeah.
00:33:00.230 --> 00:33:01.297
(Billy) Exactly, so...
00:33:01.297 --> 00:33:02.532
(Derek) Do good to those
00:33:02.532 --> 00:33:04.186
who spitefully use you, right?
00:33:04.186 --> 00:33:10.085
So, okay, that was a lesson
that you learned
00:33:10.085 --> 00:33:12.389
in that experience. Gladys?
00:33:12.389 --> 00:33:14.385
(Gladys) Yes, a while ago
00:33:14.385 --> 00:33:17.501
I was called to teach kindergarten,
00:33:17.501 --> 00:33:20.142
and I was teaching upper graders,
00:33:20.142 --> 00:33:23.195
and I didn't feel like I could do it.
00:33:23.195 --> 00:33:24.806
And I cried and fought with God.
00:33:24.806 --> 00:33:26.894
I was saying, "I don't want to do it."
00:33:26.894 --> 00:33:29.504
But God kept insisting in my heart
00:33:29.504 --> 00:33:32.171
that that's where He wanted me to be.
00:33:32.171 --> 00:33:35.108
And the words of Jeremiah 33:3
00:33:35.108 --> 00:33:36.408
gave me encouragement
00:33:36.408 --> 00:33:38.043
where He said, "Call unto Me,
00:33:38.043 --> 00:33:39.966
and I will answer, and I will show you
00:33:39.966 --> 00:33:41.064
great and mighty things
00:33:41.064 --> 00:33:42.337
that you don't know."
00:33:42.337 --> 00:33:43.718
And those words just,
00:33:43.718 --> 00:33:45.729
like, changed my heart
00:33:45.729 --> 00:33:47.395
in a position that now
00:33:47.395 --> 00:33:49.729
I wouldn't see myself, you know...
00:33:49.729 --> 00:33:51.498
I look back and say, "Wow."
00:33:51.498 --> 00:33:53.017
God really made a change,
00:33:53.017 --> 00:33:54.510
not only in my life
00:33:54.510 --> 00:33:56.866
but the direction that I was going."
00:33:56.877 --> 00:34:00.775
(Derek) That's one of my wife's
favorite passages
00:34:00.775 --> 00:34:04.088
from Jeremiah, by the way, Jeremiah 33:3.
00:34:04.088 --> 00:34:07.036
And for those of you watching the program
00:34:07.036 --> 00:34:10.395
or those on the team that couldn't see,
00:34:10.395 --> 00:34:14.482
Gladys did not read that; it's inside.
00:34:14.482 --> 00:34:17.333
She quoted it, "Call to Me,
00:34:17.333 --> 00:34:19.504
and I will answer you,
00:34:19.504 --> 00:34:21.284
and show you great and mighty things,
00:34:21.284 --> 00:34:22.856
which you do not know."
00:34:22.856 --> 00:34:25.511
So, that Word was in her heart.
00:34:25.511 --> 00:34:26.777
Now, the question is,
00:34:26.777 --> 00:34:29.280
just to help with the story,
00:34:29.280 --> 00:34:30.752
did you know that Word
00:34:30.752 --> 00:34:32.946
before He brought it to your remembrance?
00:34:32.946 --> 00:34:34.102
(Gladys) Of course.
00:34:34.102 --> 00:34:36.654
(Derek) Why do you say, "Of course"?
00:34:36.654 --> 00:34:39.245
Was that useful that that Word was in her?
00:34:39.245 --> 00:34:40.479
(Gladys, Team) Yes.
00:34:40.479 --> 00:34:41.838
(Derek) Absolutely, right,
00:34:41.838 --> 00:34:44.241
because the Holy Spirit
00:34:44.241 --> 00:34:46.282
brought it to her remembrance, Abigail,
00:34:46.282 --> 00:34:47.624
you're absolutely right.
00:34:47.624 --> 00:34:49.782
If it's not there, He can't
00:34:49.782 --> 00:34:52.187
bring it to your remembrance, all right?
00:34:52.187 --> 00:34:54.893
So that became a Word to you,
an encouraging Word.
00:34:54.893 --> 00:34:56.227
Someone else, where God
00:34:56.227 --> 00:34:57.598
brought a Word to you?
00:34:57.598 --> 00:34:59.993
You didn't have the live prophet,
00:34:59.993 --> 00:35:01.631
Jeremiah, because he sleeps
00:35:01.631 --> 00:35:03.594
until the Resurrection Day, right?
00:35:03.594 --> 00:35:06.256
But through the written testimony
of Jeremiah,
00:35:06.256 --> 00:35:09.156
that Word came to you. Okay, Travis?
00:35:09.156 --> 00:35:10.339
(Travis) Through my walk
00:35:10.339 --> 00:35:12.919
coming back to God,
00:35:12.919 --> 00:35:15.077
you know, sometimes you stumble and fall,
00:35:15.077 --> 00:35:16.141
and you make mistakes.
00:35:16.141 --> 00:35:17.769
And I would always be reminded,
00:35:17.769 --> 00:35:19.464
the Holy Spirit would bring
00:35:19.464 --> 00:35:22.267
1 John, chapter 2, verse 1.
00:35:22.267 --> 00:35:23.444
"My [brethren], I write
00:35:23.444 --> 00:35:25.445
these things to you that you
may not sin."
00:35:25.445 --> 00:35:26.915
"My little children," he says,
00:35:26.915 --> 00:35:27.976
"that you may not sin,
00:35:27.976 --> 00:35:30.823
but if you do, you have an Advocate
with the Father."
00:35:30.823 --> 00:35:33.528
(Derek) And that's Jesus Christ
the righteous One, right?
00:35:33.528 --> 00:35:35.343
(Travis) Jesus Christ the righteous.
00:35:35.343 --> 00:35:36.888
And then it would just remind me
00:35:36.888 --> 00:35:37.968
that I need to go back
00:35:37.968 --> 00:35:39.208
to the foot of the cross,
00:35:39.208 --> 00:35:41.435
and then another verse would come
into my head,
00:35:41.435 --> 00:35:43.057
"Thy word have I hid in my heart,
00:35:43.057 --> 00:35:44.752
that I might not sin against Thee."
00:35:44.752 --> 00:35:46.872
And the Holy Spirit's encouraged me,
00:35:46.872 --> 00:35:49.487
"Hide the Word of God in your heart.
00:35:49.487 --> 00:35:51.378
Hide the Word of God in your heart,"...
00:35:51.378 --> 00:35:52.874
(Derek) And right before 1 John
00:35:52.874 --> 00:35:54.003
about, "I pray that you
00:35:54.003 --> 00:35:55.580
would not sin, little children,"
00:35:55.580 --> 00:35:57.894
right before that, in chapter 1, says,
00:35:57.894 --> 00:35:59.536
"If we confess our sins..."
00:35:59.536 --> 00:36:00.697
(Team) He is faithful...
00:36:00.697 --> 00:36:03.481
(Derek) "He is faithful and just
to forgive us, and to..."?
00:36:03.481 --> 00:36:04.515
(Team) Cleanse us.
00:36:04.515 --> 00:36:06.708
(Derek) "Cleanse us from all
unrighteousness."
00:36:06.708 --> 00:36:08.581
So that word comes as an encouragement.
00:36:08.581 --> 00:36:10.436
And apparently Zerubbabel
00:36:10.436 --> 00:36:12.860
and Joshua the high priest and others
00:36:12.860 --> 00:36:14.709
needed a little encouragement,
00:36:14.709 --> 00:36:16.280
and God sent the prophets.
00:36:16.280 --> 00:36:18.543
The lesson that I'm learning is,
00:36:18.543 --> 00:36:20.211
if we listen to the prophets
00:36:20.211 --> 00:36:29.361
during the times of ease and calm times,
00:36:29.361 --> 00:36:32.178
then when we really need that Word,
00:36:32.178 --> 00:36:34.335
the Holy Spirit will bring it back to us.
00:36:34.335 --> 00:36:37.646
Well, we're going to hyperspace
to Nehemiah now;
00:36:37.646 --> 00:36:40.112
we're around 444 B.C.,
00:36:40.112 --> 00:36:41.336
and we're going to go
00:36:41.336 --> 00:36:43.234
to chapter 4 of Nehemiah.
00:36:43.234 --> 00:36:45.013
All the way through Nehemiah,
00:36:45.013 --> 00:36:46.827
he's going to experience opposition,
00:36:46.827 --> 00:36:50.920
but I'd like to look specifically
at chapter 4
00:36:50.920 --> 00:36:54.907
and see how he responded
to the opposition
00:36:54.907 --> 00:36:56.463
while he clearly knew
00:36:56.463 --> 00:36:58.461
he was doing the work of God.
00:36:58.461 --> 00:36:59.709
Stephanie, could you read
00:36:59.709 --> 00:37:01.957
the first three verses for us,
00:37:01.957 --> 00:37:04.675
and then I'll have someone else
00:37:04.675 --> 00:37:06.043
continue from verse 4.
00:37:06.043 --> 00:37:07.911
(Stephanie) All right, and I'm reading
00:37:07.911 --> 00:37:09.331
from the King James Version:
00:37:54.896 --> 00:37:56.369
(Derek) These enemies,
00:37:56.369 --> 00:37:57.910
what are they doing?
00:37:57.910 --> 00:37:58.978
(Team) Mocking.
00:37:58.978 --> 00:38:01.816
(Derek) They're mocking; is that all?
00:38:01.816 --> 00:38:03.453
(Stephanie) Trying to discourage.
00:38:03.453 --> 00:38:05.981
(Derek) Yeah, they're trying
to discourage, trying to...?
00:38:05.981 --> 00:38:07.495
(Team Member) Undermine.
00:38:07.495 --> 00:38:11.508
(Derek) Undermine, intimidate, right?
00:38:11.508 --> 00:38:15.828
Let's see, Heide, how Nehemiah responds,
00:38:15.828 --> 00:38:19.590
verses 4 and 5 of chapter 4.
00:38:19.590 --> 00:38:20.785
(Heide) I'll be reading
00:38:20.785 --> 00:38:22.955
from the New King James Version,
and it says:
00:38:40.838 --> 00:38:41.942
(Derek) In other words,
00:38:41.942 --> 00:38:42.852
to use the language
00:38:42.852 --> 00:38:46.415
of our earlier conversation,
let them be...?
00:38:46.415 --> 00:38:48.120
(Gladys) Caught in their own trap.
00:38:48.120 --> 00:38:50.395
(Derek) Caught in their own trap, right?
00:38:50.399 --> 00:38:52.544
"We're doing what You wanted us to do."
00:38:52.544 --> 00:38:56.814
But notice again, intimidation, mocking,
00:38:56.814 --> 00:38:59.298
and what's Nehemiah's first response?
00:38:59.298 --> 00:39:00.992
(Team) Prayer.
00:39:00.992 --> 00:39:04.608
(Derek) Right? Call out to God.
00:39:04.608 --> 00:39:08.909
Next verse, Travis, could you
read verse 6?
00:39:08.909 --> 00:39:10.280
(Travis) And I'll be reading
00:39:10.280 --> 00:39:11.822
from the New King James Version:
00:39:20.388 --> 00:39:22.382
(Derek) God gave them encouragement,
00:39:22.382 --> 00:39:24.286
and they said, "We're not going to worry
00:39:24.286 --> 00:39:26.250
about these people opposing us;
00:39:26.250 --> 00:39:28.494
they'll be caught in their own trap.
00:39:28.494 --> 00:39:30.853
And they continued to make progress.
00:39:30.853 --> 00:39:33.555
Billy, could you read verses 7 and 8?
00:39:33.555 --> 00:39:37.470
We're still in Nehemiah, chapter 4,
verses 7 and 8.
00:39:37.470 --> 00:39:38.879
(Billy) Sure, I'll be reading
00:39:38.879 --> 00:39:40.270
from the King James Version:
00:40:08.223 --> 00:40:09.986
(Derek) All right, so, did you notice
00:40:09.986 --> 00:40:11.823
that the number of people
00:40:11.823 --> 00:40:13.550
in opposition increased again?
00:40:13.550 --> 00:40:14.706
(Team) Yes.
00:40:14.706 --> 00:40:16.195
(Derek) Now we've got all kinds
00:40:16.195 --> 00:40:18.403
of other people being added to the list.
00:40:18.403 --> 00:40:20.100
It was two, then it's three;
00:40:20.100 --> 00:40:21.338
how many is it now?
00:40:21.338 --> 00:40:24.715
And these represent groups
of people, right?
00:40:24.715 --> 00:40:28.471
And verse 9, what did you notice?
00:40:28.471 --> 00:40:29.524
What's the first thing
00:40:29.524 --> 00:40:31.256
that Nehemiah does?
00:40:31.256 --> 00:40:32.368
(Team) Pray!
00:40:32.368 --> 00:40:34.711
(Derek) You got it now, right?
00:40:34.711 --> 00:40:35.922
The first thing he does -
00:40:35.922 --> 00:40:38.829
he prays to God, and...?
00:40:38.829 --> 00:40:40.842
(Stephanie) Set a watch.
00:40:40.842 --> 00:40:42.731
(Derek) Help me with that, unpack that.
00:40:42.731 --> 00:40:44.087
(Heide) I pray, but I can't,
00:40:44.087 --> 00:40:45.557
if I have an exam, say, "Lord,
00:40:45.557 --> 00:40:47.290
help me to get an A," and not study.
00:40:47.290 --> 00:40:48.823
They also did their part.
00:40:48.823 --> 00:40:50.799
(Derek) I hope every student in the world
00:40:50.799 --> 00:40:53.035
just heard what Heide said.
00:40:53.035 --> 00:40:53.931
Is it good to pray
00:40:53.931 --> 00:40:55.696
if you're getting ready for an exam?
00:40:55.696 --> 00:40:56.443
(Team) Yes.
00:40:56.443 --> 00:40:57.800
(Derek) Is it good to study?
00:40:57.800 --> 00:40:59.032
(Team) Yes.
00:40:59.032 --> 00:41:00.893
(Derek) Applying it to Nehemiah.
00:41:00.893 --> 00:41:02.519
He's under attack; in fact,
00:41:02.519 --> 00:41:05.108
they're actually conspiring to do what?
00:41:05.108 --> 00:41:09.147
To attack and create confusion,
my Bible says.
00:41:09.147 --> 00:41:10.397
So, good to pray?
00:41:10.397 --> 00:41:11.690
(Team) Yes.
00:41:11.690 --> 00:41:14.419
(Derek) Good to set watch-people
on the wall?
00:41:14.419 --> 00:41:15.390
(Team) Yes.
00:41:15.390 --> 00:41:17.685
(Derek) Absolutely, as we see
00:41:17.685 --> 00:41:21.832
the wisdom of this leader responding.
00:41:21.832 --> 00:41:23.135
They also, though, had
00:41:23.135 --> 00:41:25.203
some internal opposition.
00:41:25.203 --> 00:41:28.266
Look in verse 12; Liza, could you read
00:41:28.266 --> 00:41:31.691
chapter 4 of Nehemiah and verse 12?
00:41:31.691 --> 00:41:32.863
(Liza) I'll be reading
00:41:32.863 --> 00:41:34.544
from the New King James Version:
00:41:44.691 --> 00:41:49.816
(Derek) What?! What was the little -
00:41:49.816 --> 00:41:51.026
what would we call this?
00:41:51.026 --> 00:41:55.930
Like a mantra, right, a little -
what's the word?
00:41:55.930 --> 00:41:59.295
A little anthem or, you know?
00:41:59.295 --> 00:42:01.645
It's like, what do you call that
00:42:01.645 --> 00:42:04.635
when you keep flashing the same message?
00:42:04.635 --> 00:42:05.908
(Team Member) Repetition.
00:42:05.908 --> 00:42:08.271
(Derek) Yeah, it's propaganda;
00:42:08.271 --> 00:42:10.525
that's the word I was thinking,
propaganda.
00:42:10.525 --> 00:42:11.839
What's the propaganda?
00:42:11.839 --> 00:42:13.839
(Marcus) "They're going to come upon you."
00:42:13.839 --> 00:42:17.449
(Derek) Yeah, "Whatever place you turn,
00:42:17.449 --> 00:42:18.744
they'll be upon us."
00:42:18.744 --> 00:42:20.230
"Whatever place you turn,
00:42:20.230 --> 00:42:21.595
they'll be upon us."
00:42:21.595 --> 00:42:23.318
"Whatever place...," how many times?
00:42:23.318 --> 00:42:24.185
(Team) Ten times.
00:42:24.185 --> 00:42:27.169
(Derek) "Whatever place you turn..."
00:42:27.169 --> 00:42:31.093
These are not the people out there.
00:42:31.093 --> 00:42:32.586
These are the people...?
00:42:32.586 --> 00:42:33.735
(Gladys) Inside.
00:42:33.735 --> 00:42:36.814
(Derek) In here. Lesson? Travis?
00:42:36.814 --> 00:42:38.153
(Travis) I was just thinking
00:42:38.153 --> 00:42:39.368
of Caleb and Joshua.
00:42:39.368 --> 00:42:40.582
When they came back,
00:42:40.582 --> 00:42:42.906
there were 10 people that said,
00:42:42.906 --> 00:42:44.366
"There are giants in the land;
00:42:44.366 --> 00:42:46.245
we'll never be able to go and take it."
00:42:46.245 --> 00:42:47.586
"We'll never...," you know?
00:42:47.586 --> 00:42:49.228
I'm sure there's no correlation,
00:42:49.228 --> 00:42:51.055
but it just seems funny that people
00:42:51.055 --> 00:42:52.771
from the inside, their own people...
00:42:52.771 --> 00:42:54.024
(Derek) And there were 10.
00:42:54.024 --> 00:42:55.750
(Travis) Yeah, 10 discouraging them.
00:42:55.750 --> 00:42:57.635
(Derek) That's propaganda, too, right?
00:42:57.635 --> 00:42:59.305
It was negative propaganda
00:42:59.305 --> 00:43:00.953
over and over again.
00:43:00.953 --> 00:43:02.377
It's almost like having,
00:43:02.377 --> 00:43:05.397
today we might say you have
like a megaphone,
00:43:05.397 --> 00:43:06.714
and you're just shouting
00:43:06.714 --> 00:43:08.866
over the workplace, "It's
going to fall down,"
00:43:08.866 --> 00:43:10.113
"It's going to fall down,"
00:43:10.113 --> 00:43:11.503
"It's going to fall down."
00:43:11.503 --> 00:43:13.146
How do you handle
00:43:13.146 --> 00:43:15.780
that kind of propaganda,
00:43:15.780 --> 00:43:18.409
which is deliberately intended
00:43:18.409 --> 00:43:21.271
to hinder what God wants you to do?
00:43:21.271 --> 00:43:22.584
What's the word?!
00:43:22.584 --> 00:43:25.515
(Team) Pray!
00:43:25.515 --> 00:43:27.081
(Derek) Pray and then what?
00:43:27.081 --> 00:43:28.361
(Team) Do the work.
00:43:28.361 --> 00:43:29.641
(Derek) Do the work?
00:43:29.641 --> 00:43:30.782
(Team) Move forward.
00:43:30.782 --> 00:43:32.214
(Derek) Get earplugs?
00:43:32.214 --> 00:43:37.913
Noise-cancelling headphones?
00:43:37.913 --> 00:43:41.828
You do whatever you need to do,
having prayed,
00:43:41.828 --> 00:43:43.559
to keep the work going, right?
00:43:43.559 --> 00:43:44.408
(Team) Yes.
00:43:44.408 --> 00:43:46.376
(Derek) Does that make sense?
00:43:46.376 --> 00:43:49.996
What are you thinking about this situation
00:43:49.996 --> 00:43:52.484
from a human perspective, Abigail?
00:43:52.484 --> 00:43:54.805
(Abigail) That's it's really...
00:43:54.805 --> 00:43:58.664
In some point, it's supposed to be
so discouraging,
00:43:58.664 --> 00:44:01.814
but it also tells us the importance
00:44:01.814 --> 00:44:05.313
of being in constant communication
with God,
00:44:05.313 --> 00:44:07.574
to ask Him to empower us
00:44:07.574 --> 00:44:10.442
and give us the zeal to go ahead
00:44:10.442 --> 00:44:12.672
and do what He has called us to do.
00:44:12.672 --> 00:44:15.016
Because, regardless if we want it or not,
00:44:15.016 --> 00:44:16.597
we're going to have opposition
00:44:16.597 --> 00:44:18.640
coming from all sorts of directions.
00:44:18.640 --> 00:44:22.428
And sometimes the strongest ones
are from within.
00:44:22.428 --> 00:44:24.557
So we have to be constantly praying.
00:44:24.557 --> 00:44:26.352
(Derek) I guess we should be praying,
00:44:26.352 --> 00:44:28.023
and, you know, that somehow,
00:44:28.023 --> 00:44:30.105
by the grace of God, that the enemies
00:44:30.105 --> 00:44:31.741
either from without or within,
00:44:31.741 --> 00:44:32.880
would look and say,
00:44:32.880 --> 00:44:34.755
"We just don't understand these people.
00:44:34.755 --> 00:44:37.778
They're unstoppable," right?
00:44:37.778 --> 00:44:39.348
"They're just so focused
00:44:39.348 --> 00:44:41.435
on what God has asked them to do
00:44:41.435 --> 00:44:43.929
that nothing we're doing
00:44:43.929 --> 00:44:46.400
is slowing them down." Marcus?
00:44:46.400 --> 00:44:48.309
(Marcus) But then that would also point
00:44:48.309 --> 00:44:52.761
to that there is not just a human element
at work here.
00:44:52.761 --> 00:44:54.851
And, of course, we come to that conclusion
00:44:54.851 --> 00:44:56.015
later on in the chapter.
00:44:56.015 --> 00:44:57.418
They come to that conclusion,
00:44:57.418 --> 00:44:59.940
but that God was within the work
00:44:59.940 --> 00:45:02.271
and with the work the whole entire time.
00:45:02.271 --> 00:45:03.353
(Derek) So, let's keep
00:45:03.353 --> 00:45:04.384
going in the chapter.
00:45:04.384 --> 00:45:05.919
We're still in chapter 4.
00:45:05.919 --> 00:45:07.476
This is ancient history,
00:45:07.476 --> 00:45:10.162
but it's also modern lessons for us,
00:45:10.162 --> 00:45:12.009
and, Stephanie, could you read
00:45:12.009 --> 00:45:14.657
verses 13 through 18 of chapter 4
00:45:14.657 --> 00:45:16.448
and see how Nehemiah
00:45:16.448 --> 00:45:18.339
responds to the opposition.
00:45:18.339 --> 00:45:19.809
As Abigail has mentioned,
00:45:19.809 --> 00:45:22.219
it's both external and internal.
00:45:22.219 --> 00:45:24.579
Let's see how this leader of God responds.
00:45:24.579 --> 00:45:26.511
(Stephanie) The King James Version says:
00:46:57.676 --> 00:47:01.250
(Derek) Wow, that's pretty intense, right?
00:47:01.250 --> 00:47:02.901
You have a tool in one hand
00:47:02.901 --> 00:47:06.903
and a sword in the other hand.
00:47:06.903 --> 00:47:10.757
What would that look like today? Liza?
00:47:10.757 --> 00:47:12.511
(Liza) I think that's a good lesson
00:47:12.511 --> 00:47:13.598
in that, in everything
00:47:13.598 --> 00:47:15.063
that God does in our lives,
00:47:15.063 --> 00:47:17.229
we have to be on offense and defense,
00:47:17.229 --> 00:47:18.785
just to use a sports metaphor.
00:47:18.785 --> 00:47:20.073
Like, we're moving forward
00:47:20.073 --> 00:47:20.921
to do God's work,
00:47:20.921 --> 00:47:22.575
but at all times we're alert,
00:47:22.575 --> 00:47:24.037
we're on our toes,
00:47:24.037 --> 00:47:25.399
we're not letting the enemy
00:47:25.399 --> 00:47:26.354
catch us off guard,
00:47:26.354 --> 00:47:28.865
so we're always offense and defense
at all times.
00:47:28.865 --> 00:47:30.107
(Derek) All right. Travis?
00:47:30.107 --> 00:47:32.680
(Travis) The Bible is the sword, right,
it's our sword,
00:47:32.680 --> 00:47:34.212
so we can work diligently
00:47:34.212 --> 00:47:36.731
but keep the sword in our hand, right?
00:47:36.731 --> 00:47:37.782
The sword of truth.
00:47:37.782 --> 00:47:40.568
(Derek) So you would see that this...
00:47:40.568 --> 00:47:42.317
You don't want us all to be, like,
00:47:42.317 --> 00:47:44.368
having weapons and whatnot.
00:47:44.368 --> 00:47:46.913
You think the spiritual weapon...
00:47:46.913 --> 00:47:48.406
But they actually did have
00:47:48.406 --> 00:47:51.106
spears and swords because they were
00:47:51.106 --> 00:47:53.119
saying, "You come to kill
00:47:53.119 --> 00:47:54.692
our wives and our children,
00:47:54.692 --> 00:47:59.801
and we're going to defend ourselves."
00:47:59.801 --> 00:48:01.464
Of course, whether they
00:48:01.464 --> 00:48:03.025
would have needed to or not,
00:48:03.025 --> 00:48:04.275
God could have done...
00:48:04.275 --> 00:48:05.898
He could have had an angel
00:48:05.898 --> 00:48:07.339
fly over the enemy.
00:48:07.339 --> 00:48:10.052
But they were sending a visual message
00:48:10.052 --> 00:48:13.252
that, "We're not coming down," right?
00:48:13.252 --> 00:48:14.496
Puia, could you read on
00:48:14.496 --> 00:48:17.444
for us verses 19 to 23.
00:48:17.444 --> 00:48:20.734
It's actually quite an epic drama,
isn't it,
00:48:20.734 --> 00:48:23.124
with all kinds of scheming and traps.
00:48:23.124 --> 00:48:25.701
And the people of God are saying,
00:48:25.701 --> 00:48:27.164
"No, we're going to keep doing
00:48:27.164 --> 00:48:28.466
what God's asked us to do."
00:48:28.466 --> 00:48:31.554
Nehemiah, chapter 4, verses 19 to 23.
00:48:31.554 --> 00:48:33.165
(Puia) All right, I'll be reading
00:48:33.165 --> 00:48:34.686
from the New King James Version:
00:49:21.384 --> 00:49:26.092
(Derek) No nap times, no personal days.
00:49:26.092 --> 00:49:27.659
They only took their clothes off
00:49:27.659 --> 00:49:28.881
when they got so dirty
00:49:28.881 --> 00:49:32.024
they needed to wash them.
00:49:32.024 --> 00:49:35.109
So, you mentioned that earlier, Travis,
00:49:35.109 --> 00:49:37.010
about servant leadership.
00:49:37.010 --> 00:49:38.793
What do you see here?
00:49:38.793 --> 00:49:40.976
(Travis) Something really stood out to me,
00:49:40.976 --> 00:49:42.963
"The work is great and extensive,
00:49:42.963 --> 00:49:44.427
and we're separated."
00:49:44.427 --> 00:49:45.493
The harvest is great,
00:49:45.493 --> 00:49:46.874
and the laborers are few.
00:49:46.874 --> 00:49:47.889
We've all been called
00:49:47.889 --> 00:49:50.144
into this harvest work for souls,
00:49:50.144 --> 00:49:53.560
and we need to get back
on the wall, right?
00:49:53.560 --> 00:49:56.559
Labor together; we'll face opposition,
00:49:56.559 --> 00:49:58.358
but stay focused on our mission,
00:49:58.358 --> 00:50:00.635
keep the sword of the Spirit
in our hands
00:50:00.635 --> 00:50:01.999
and focus on Jesus,
00:50:01.999 --> 00:50:03.709
the promises of Jesus.
00:50:03.709 --> 00:50:05.278
(Derek) So, I'm going to give you
00:50:05.278 --> 00:50:06.207
a chance to think.
00:50:06.207 --> 00:50:08.856
That was 2,400-and-some years ago.
00:50:08.856 --> 00:50:11.878
I'd like you think about your own life,
00:50:11.878 --> 00:50:15.826
a time when God sent you on a mission,
00:50:15.826 --> 00:50:16.958
and you experienced
00:50:16.958 --> 00:50:18.837
some intense opposition,
00:50:18.837 --> 00:50:21.901
which you may not have particularly liked,
00:50:21.901 --> 00:50:24.897
either from external or internal sources.
00:50:24.897 --> 00:50:26.467
And yet, as you look back,
00:50:26.467 --> 00:50:28.649
you see how God was with you.
00:50:28.649 --> 00:50:29.775
Puia, you're smiling.
00:50:29.775 --> 00:50:32.261
Do you have a story that you could share?
00:50:32.261 --> 00:50:34.221
(Puia) I do. In the previous study
00:50:34.221 --> 00:50:36.526
I quickly mentioned about a movement
00:50:36.526 --> 00:50:39.078
that I started with some of my friends
00:50:39.078 --> 00:50:40.283
here in the United States
00:50:40.283 --> 00:50:43.692
for my fellow Mizo young people.
00:50:43.692 --> 00:50:45.975
God had put a burden on my heart
00:50:45.975 --> 00:50:47.705
to do something, a ministry
00:50:47.705 --> 00:50:48.989
or a movement of some kind
00:50:48.989 --> 00:50:50.966
for my fellow Mizo young people
00:50:50.966 --> 00:50:52.252
because we're all scattered
00:50:52.252 --> 00:50:53.483
across the United States,
00:50:53.483 --> 00:50:55.724
and we're in different parts
of the conferences
00:50:55.724 --> 00:50:56.686
and different parts
00:50:56.686 --> 00:50:58.819
of the division itself.
00:50:58.819 --> 00:51:00.349
(Derek) So let me just...
00:51:00.349 --> 00:51:02.217
because some people...You say "Mizo."
00:51:02.217 --> 00:51:05.687
Mizoram is a territory in Northeast India
00:51:05.687 --> 00:51:08.141
and Western Myanmar,
00:51:08.141 --> 00:51:10.702
And there are Mizo people...
00:51:10.702 --> 00:51:12.248
(Puia) Who have immigrated here.
00:51:12.248 --> 00:51:13.298
(Derek) ...come here.
00:51:13.298 --> 00:51:14.698
And God has put on your heart
00:51:14.698 --> 00:51:16.732
a special burden to miinister
00:51:16.732 --> 00:51:18.352
to these young people.
00:51:18.352 --> 00:51:20.390
(Puia) Yes, because immigrants
00:51:20.390 --> 00:51:22.587
face an extra layer of challenge
00:51:22.587 --> 00:51:24.472
when it comes to living
00:51:24.472 --> 00:51:26.068
and settling here.
00:51:26.068 --> 00:51:28.226
And so, I prayed about it,
00:51:28.226 --> 00:51:30.530
and I talked to different pastors,
00:51:30.530 --> 00:51:32.175
different youth leaders
00:51:32.175 --> 00:51:33.786
and different churches.
00:51:33.786 --> 00:51:35.441
And we had a meeting
00:51:35.441 --> 00:51:37.652
where we talked about plans
00:51:37.652 --> 00:51:40.294
to start a federation
00:51:40.294 --> 00:51:43.740
so that we can organize events
00:51:43.740 --> 00:51:45.248
like a spiritual retreat
00:51:45.248 --> 00:51:46.932
where we can bring in our youth
00:51:46.932 --> 00:51:48.489
and teach them about the Bible
00:51:48.489 --> 00:51:50.427
and train them for mission work
00:51:50.427 --> 00:51:51.471
and things like that.
00:51:51.471 --> 00:51:53.260
(Derek) Would you have those meetings
00:51:53.260 --> 00:51:54.280
in the Mizo language?
00:51:54.280 --> 00:51:55.353
(Puia) Mizo language.
00:51:55.353 --> 00:51:56.753
(Derek) Okay. Does that sound
00:51:56.753 --> 00:51:58.442
like something God might ask
00:51:58.442 --> 00:52:01.427
a young leader who speaks Mizo to do?
00:52:01.430 --> 00:52:02.314
(Team) Yes.
00:52:02.314 --> 00:52:04.523
(Derek) Okay. Why would anyone
00:52:04.523 --> 00:52:09.289
want to oppose something like that,
do you think?
00:52:09.289 --> 00:52:10.639
We don't want to be negative
00:52:10.639 --> 00:52:12.048
because sometimes people say,
00:52:12.048 --> 00:52:13.929
"Well, that's too complicated,"
00:52:13.929 --> 00:52:15.329
or, "You'll never build it."
00:52:15.329 --> 00:52:16.378
"If you stand on it,
00:52:16.378 --> 00:52:20.002
the wall will fall down,"
00:52:20.002 --> 00:52:22.928
or, "You might offend someone." Abigail?
00:52:22.928 --> 00:52:25.089
(Abigail) I'm thinking, the reason
00:52:25.089 --> 00:52:26.586
why someone would oppose that
00:52:26.586 --> 00:52:28.763
is because you are doing this
00:52:28.763 --> 00:52:31.364
to draw many youth to God
00:52:31.364 --> 00:52:33.272
and to uplift the name of God.
00:52:33.272 --> 00:52:38.225
And the enemy will put that negativity
00:52:38.225 --> 00:52:39.760
in somebody's heart
00:52:39.760 --> 00:52:41.849
to stop that from happening.
00:52:41.849 --> 00:52:43.403
And they may discourage you
00:52:43.403 --> 00:52:44.789
and tell you, "This is never
00:52:44.789 --> 00:52:46.610
going to actually be successful."
00:52:46.610 --> 00:52:48.934
But if you keep pushing
00:52:48.934 --> 00:52:52.325
and you allow God to be your sword,
00:52:52.325 --> 00:52:54.457
then you are going to be able to achieve
00:52:54.457 --> 00:52:58.176
even greater things for His namesake,
for His glory.
00:52:58.176 --> 00:53:00.140
(Derek) I'm going to come to Liza's point
00:53:00.140 --> 00:53:01.204
and then back to Puia.
00:53:01.204 --> 00:53:03.025
Is it possible someone might oppose it
00:53:03.025 --> 00:53:04.593
because they think, "I wish
00:53:04.593 --> 00:53:05.934
I'd thought of that,"
00:53:05.934 --> 00:53:08.603
"Wish that it was my idea,"
is that possible?
00:53:08.603 --> 00:53:09.527
(Team) Yes.
00:53:09.527 --> 00:53:11.947
(Derek) Or, "Well, you're not doing it
00:53:11.947 --> 00:53:14.960
for this group of people, for my group,
00:53:14.960 --> 00:53:18.036
how come he's doing it for his group?"
00:53:18.036 --> 00:53:20.177
There are lots of reasons, right? Liza?
00:53:20.177 --> 00:53:21.679
(Liza) I was going to say that,
00:53:21.679 --> 00:53:23.535
that it probably is jealousy or envy,
00:53:23.535 --> 00:53:24.637
like, "Oh," you know,
00:53:24.637 --> 00:53:26.479
"look at that person; they're willing.
00:53:26.479 --> 00:53:27.708
I could have done that,
00:53:27.708 --> 00:53:29.187
but I probably was not willing
00:53:29.187 --> 00:53:31.174
or did not accept God's call in my life."
00:53:31.174 --> 00:53:32.409
And so we see that a lot
00:53:32.409 --> 00:53:33.975
with these types of oppositions,
00:53:33.975 --> 00:53:35.072
especially from within.
00:53:35.072 --> 00:53:36.423
It's those people who,
00:53:36.423 --> 00:53:37.718
their hearts are hardened,
00:53:37.718 --> 00:53:38.988
they didn't follow through
00:53:38.988 --> 00:53:40.342
what God had called them to,
00:53:40.342 --> 00:53:42.351
and when someone else
picks up that mantle,
00:53:42.351 --> 00:53:44.520
it's that jealousy of, "Why them?"
00:53:44.520 --> 00:53:46.116
And they try to discourage that.
00:53:46.116 --> 00:53:47.281
(Derek) So we don't know
00:53:47.281 --> 00:53:48.678
what it is in this situation,
00:53:48.678 --> 00:53:50.277
but there may be a lot of things.
00:53:50.277 --> 00:53:51.533
I want to give you the end
00:53:51.533 --> 00:53:52.554
of Nehemiah's story,
00:53:52.554 --> 00:53:54.151
and then we're going to come back
00:53:54.151 --> 00:53:56.289
to the end of the Mizo story, okay?
00:53:56.289 --> 00:54:00.470
Nehemiah 6, verses 15 and 16,
00:54:00.470 --> 00:54:06.374
Gladys, could you read that for us,
Nehemiah 6:15-16?
00:54:06.374 --> 00:54:07.862
(Gladys) Nehemiah, I'm reading
00:54:07.862 --> 00:54:09.879
from the New International Version,
00:54:09.879 --> 00:54:14.916
Nehemiah, chapter 6, verses 15 and 16:
00:54:35.252 --> 00:54:36.148
(Team) Amen.
00:54:36.148 --> 00:54:37.718
(Derek) My Bible says, "This work
00:54:37.718 --> 00:54:38.716
was done by our God,"
00:54:38.716 --> 00:54:40.245
and yet someone would say, "Yes,
00:54:40.245 --> 00:54:42.434
but He used hands, too,"
00:54:42.434 --> 00:54:45.789
including hands of prophets, right?
00:54:45.789 --> 00:54:51.734
Fifty-two days to get the work done.
00:54:51.734 --> 00:54:55.218
Rest of the Mizo story.
00:54:55.218 --> 00:54:57.977
Maybe it's still happening, you see.
00:54:57.977 --> 00:55:00.112
(Puia) So, most of the leaders
00:55:00.112 --> 00:55:01.775
that I work with in this context,
00:55:01.775 --> 00:55:03.171
they all loved the idea,
00:55:03.171 --> 00:55:05.633
and we were planning to have a convention
00:55:05.633 --> 00:55:06.669
where we brought all
00:55:06.669 --> 00:55:08.013
the young people together,
00:55:08.013 --> 00:55:10.002
but there came a few oppositions
00:55:10.002 --> 00:55:11.950
from a few elders,
00:55:11.950 --> 00:55:13.732
citing that I was too young,
00:55:13.732 --> 00:55:16.607
inexperienced, without the knowledge
00:55:16.607 --> 00:55:19.602
of working with different age groups,
00:55:19.602 --> 00:55:21.472
and that in the past they have tried,
00:55:21.472 --> 00:55:24.446
and it never worked because the problem
was always...
00:55:24.446 --> 00:55:26.489
(Derek) Has anybody ever heard that line?
00:55:26.489 --> 00:55:27.881
"We tried it once," you know,
00:55:27.881 --> 00:55:29.579
"30 years ago, and it didn't work."
00:55:29.579 --> 00:55:31.081
We don't want to be negative,
00:55:31.081 --> 00:55:33.563
but these are some of the messages
that could come.
00:55:33.563 --> 00:55:36.656
(Puia) Right, but to make
the long story short,
00:55:36.656 --> 00:55:38.237
I think the situation brought me
00:55:38.237 --> 00:55:40.182
to my knees so many times.
00:55:40.182 --> 00:55:41.867
Sometimes I could never sleep...
00:55:41.867 --> 00:55:43.008
(Derek) Is that good?
00:55:43.008 --> 00:55:45.215
(Puia) Yeah, sometimes I wasn't
able to sleep,
00:55:45.215 --> 00:55:47.471
like, I would stay up the whole night
00:55:47.471 --> 00:55:48.792
pondering about this
00:55:48.792 --> 00:55:50.410
and with the burden on my heart,
00:55:50.410 --> 00:55:52.946
thinking that God really put this
on my heart.
00:55:52.946 --> 00:55:55.709
But in the end, everything came around,
00:55:55.709 --> 00:55:57.169
and people came out.
00:55:57.169 --> 00:55:58.434
And the people who did not
00:55:58.434 --> 00:55:59.530
support me at first,
00:55:59.530 --> 00:56:02.572
they spread lies and rumors.
00:56:02.572 --> 00:56:05.986
I mean, it was bad, but in the end,
00:56:05.986 --> 00:56:08.505
with the results that the movement
00:56:08.505 --> 00:56:11.432
produced in the lives of our young people,
00:56:11.432 --> 00:56:12.719
people were able to see,
00:56:12.719 --> 00:56:14.866
"Oh, maybe this actually
is a good movement."
00:56:14.866 --> 00:56:16.375
And now we're in the next stage
00:56:16.375 --> 00:56:18.983
of transferring the leadership
this summer and then...
00:56:18.983 --> 00:56:20.853
(Derek) Did you have a group that met?
00:56:20.853 --> 00:56:21.608
(Puia) Yes.
00:56:21.608 --> 00:56:23.202
(Derek) How many came together?
00:56:23.202 --> 00:56:24.262
(Puia) Over 300, yeah.
00:56:24.262 --> 00:56:25.947
(Derek) Three hundred young people.
00:56:25.947 --> 00:56:28.699
(Puia) And now we're planning
to send back, if possible,
00:56:28.699 --> 00:56:30.798
student missionaries back to our country.
00:56:30.798 --> 00:56:33.227
So, that's the next stage of our goals.
00:56:33.227 --> 00:56:37.904
(Derek) And the wall was built in 52 days!
00:56:37.904 --> 00:56:39.941
But not without opposition.
00:56:39.941 --> 00:56:42.600
So, what's the lesson for our lives?
00:56:42.600 --> 00:56:44.386
The lesson is, God does not
00:56:44.386 --> 00:56:47.895
always ask us to do the easy work.
00:56:47.895 --> 00:56:51.268
He asks us to do His work.
00:56:51.268 --> 00:56:54.066
The harvest is not always easy,
00:56:54.066 --> 00:56:56.707
but it is great, and the laborers are few.
00:56:56.707 --> 00:56:58.256
And He's calling us to be part
00:56:58.256 --> 00:56:59.873
of that harvest work.
00:56:59.873 --> 00:57:02.104
And I pray the testimonies
we've heard today
00:57:02.104 --> 00:57:05.169
will inspire us to say, "Lord,
00:57:05.169 --> 00:57:06.693
if it's what You asked me to do,
00:57:06.693 --> 00:57:07.712
You will empower me;
00:57:07.712 --> 00:57:09.260
Your hand will be with me
00:57:09.260 --> 00:57:11.142
to accomplish the work for Your glory."
00:57:11.142 --> 00:57:12.617
Let's pray that can happen
00:57:12.617 --> 00:57:13.926
in our circle of influence.
00:57:13.926 --> 00:57:16.892
Father in Heaven, thank You so much
00:57:16.892 --> 00:57:19.999
for this inspired testimony
00:57:19.999 --> 00:57:22.068
that we've heard from Ezra and Nehemiah
00:57:22.068 --> 00:57:23.789
and the modern testimonies
00:57:23.789 --> 00:57:25.389
we've heard from our group.
00:57:25.389 --> 00:57:27.617
Thank You, God, that You guide us
00:57:27.617 --> 00:57:29.580
even through opposition
00:57:29.580 --> 00:57:30.915
from without and within
00:57:30.915 --> 00:57:32.416
to accomplish Your work
00:57:32.416 --> 00:57:34.509
for Your glory alone, we thank You.
00:57:34.509 --> 00:57:37.292
May we be willing servants
00:57:37.292 --> 00:57:38.951
to follow wherever You lead.
00:57:38.951 --> 00:57:40.771
In Jesus' name. Amen.
00:57:40.771 --> 00:57:41.776
(Team) Amen.
00:57:41.776 --> 00:57:43.189
(Derek) Thanks for joining us
00:57:43.189 --> 00:57:44.464
for Hope Sabbath School.
00:57:44.464 --> 00:57:45.764
There may be a special work
00:57:45.764 --> 00:57:47.049
God's calling you to do.
00:57:47.049 --> 00:57:49.016
It may not be easy, but He'll give you
00:57:49.016 --> 00:57:51.156
the power and the wisdom to do it.
00:57:51.156 --> 00:57:52.725
And when angels sing,
00:57:52.725 --> 00:57:54.402
you be sure to give Him the glory.
00:57:54.402 --> 00:57:56.871
And right now, go out and be a blessing
00:57:56.871 --> 00:57:58.083
to those around you.
00:57:58.083 --> 00:58:28.965
♪ theme music ♪