♪ theme music ♪
(Derek) Welcome to Hope Sabbath School,
an in-depth, interactive study
of the Word of God.
We are in the middle
of an amazing series
entitled Present Truth in Deuteronomy,
so many lessons for our lives today!
We're going to study today
Remember, Do Not Forget.
You say, "Pastor Derek, remember what?"
Well, stay tuned because we'll learn
some counsel from Moses
that would not only bless
the children of Israel,
but will bless your life today.
Welcome to Hope Sabbath School
and welcome to the team.
And you can tell I'm excited today, right?
And the reason I'm excited
is because one of our team members
is going to be leading the discussion
today.
And I just want to say, Sabina,
I'm looking forward to the study.
It's going to be a great study together.
We're also happy to have
some remote team members joining us.
Travis, welcome from Michigan.
Good to see you again, glad you're here.
Puia, all the way from Hawaii.
Pastor Puia, good to see you,
glad you're here.
And, Jonathan, Maryland, good to see you
from Maryland, Jonathan.
And, you know, we're excited
to have our remote team members
because they expand the platform for us
while we can only have
a limited number here in the studio.
But we're always happy to hear from you,
our Hope Sabbath School members.
My first note is from a Facebook page.
Do you know, we have 180,000 followers
on our Facebook page,
and I was interested that it's about even,
51 percent women, 49 percent men,
and the greatest percentage,
55 percent, are aged 25 to 44.
So, we've got a lot of young adults
joining us on Facebook.
And Marge, we want to thank you
for your comment on our Facebook page.
Marge writes and says,
"I discovered this show,
Hope Sabbath School, late last year.
Since then, I watch daily on your website.
God has changed my life."
(Team) Amen!
(Derek) "I was just baptized.
I love you guys, the way
you unpack the Scriptures
and make application to our lives.
I'm originally from the Philippines,
but California is now my home.
Blessings to all.
Keep on blessing the world.
Thank you."
Well, Marge, you brought joy
to our hearts today.
We're so thankful that you made
a commitment to follow Jesus
as your Savior and Lord,
and you confessed that in baptism.
God bless you as you continue
to study with us,
and to all of our Facebook community.
That's a lot of people, isn't it, 180,000.
Carmen writes to us from Canada
and says, "I really do enjoy
Hope Sabbath School,
and I've been blessed.
I belong to a small Adventist company
located among Canada's
First Nation people.
Please pray for us as we spread
the gospel of Christ.
We will continue to pray for you,
your team, and Hope Sabbath School. Amen."
(Team) Amen.
(Derek) Carmen, thanks for writing to us.
Your mission assignment there
among Canada's First Nation peoples,
God bless you in your work.
Well, here's a note
from a donor couple in Arizona.
And, you know we don't read their names.
We don't want to promote people,
but we do want to say thank you,
because we're a donor-supported ministry,
especially at this time of year.
If you're thinking about,
"Can I be part of this miracle
called Hope Sabbath School?"
Absolutely. In fact, write to me
at sshope@hopetv.org.
I'll tell you how you can be used by God
to impact the world.
Or, you can go to our website,
hopetv.org/hopess,
just click on the donate button and say,
"I want to be part of the miracle."
Well, here's a note from Arizona,
"We want to tell you
that Hope Sabbath School
is a real blessing to our lives.
We watch your program as part
of our personal worship and Bible study.
We utilize your notes
when it's our turn to teach.
We really appreciate
the direct approach from Scriptures,
that we can trust your teaching
because it relies on God's Word." Amen?
(Team) Amen.
(Derek) "We're sending you a gift
as we've gotten a little bit of money.
We felt like we should share this
so you can continue your ministry.
Thanks to the entire team,
both those in front
and behind the cameras,
for all that you do,"
and a gift of 1,440 dollars. Amen?
(Team) Amen.
(Derek) I want to just say thank you.
You say, "Well, [we] were blessed,"
but you chose to share that blessing
so the gospel can go to the world.
So, thank you so much.
And thanks for encouraging
our media team as well.
They are an important part of our team.
Sally...I don't know the last time
we got an email from Borneo Island,
Sarawak, East Malaysia.
Well, Sally writes and says,
"I came across this channel, and I found
Hope Sabbath School on YouTube.
I've watched other studies,
but I like Hope Sabbath School the best."
(Team) Amen.
(Derek) "This is because
of the management,
you read some of the testimonies,
and the discussions are awesome.
It's a blessing; thank you
from Borneo Island." Amen?
(Team) Amen.
(Derek) Over 200 countries we know
using our Hope Channel app,
so thank you for being part of our family.
Here's one last note, from Illinois
in the United States, Ricky writes.
You say, "Tell us about Ricky."
He said, "I'm a 68-year-old physician.
I live near Hinsdale, Illinois.
I often watch your program
in preparation for Sabbath School.
It brings joy to my heart
and tears to my eyes.
It's heartwarming in sincerity."
Then notice this last sentence,
"Thank you for the reassurance
that salvation is a gift of God."
(Derek, Team) Amen.
(Derek) Ricky, thanks for writing
to us from Illinois.
You know, it's really amazing, isn't it,
to see the diversity
of our global Hope Sabbath School family.
Right now we need all of you
to sing with us our theme song
from Deuteronomy 31, verse 6,
"Be strong and of good courage,
do not fear nor be afraid of them;
for the Lord your God,
He is the One who goes with you.
He will not leave you nor forsake you.”
Let's sing it together.
♪ music ♪
(Derek) Well, I am looking forward
to the study today.
Sabina, something we ought to remember
and not forget.
Why don't you lead us
in prayer as we begin.
(Sabina) Yes, my delight.
I'm so excited to be here,
but let's pray before we start
the study, okay?
Our heavenly Father,
it's such a wonderful day
You brought us together
here in this studio.
And, we really want to turn to You, Lord,
we turn our hearts, our minds,
everything in us, and we ask
that Your Holy Spirit
will be in our midst.
Father God, there is nothing in us, Lord,
that can bring salvation,
but I know Your words
and the experiences we share here
that are inspired by Your words
may change lives.
So, I pray, Lord, that You are
going to be speaking to us,
You will speak to those
who will be watching us
in a very special way, Lord.
You help us grow more
into knowing who You are,
who You want us to be.
And may this be, Lord, a blessing
to those who will watch.
In Your name I pray. Amen.
(Derek, Team) Amen.
(Sabina) Okay, so today,
as we start off this lesson,
as we record it here in the studio,
it happens to be my birthday.
I know probably when the people
who will be watching us,
it's not going to be, any longer, the day;
this is not a live show.
But, I'm very excited
because it happens also
that it's usually, on my birthday,
a time of reflection.
It's a time when I usually take to spend,
you know, in prayer with God
reflecting about my past experiences
and especially the ways
that He has led me thus far.
It's during my birthday
when I kind of have that time
to say, well, is there anything
that I can do better?
Is there anything that I have
not yet, you know, adjusted in my life
according to God's will?
And most importantly,
it's a time to be thankful
because I can recall
all the great things God has done for me.
And for me, even as I stand here
as part of Hope Sabbath School,
it's part of the great works
of God in my life.
If it was not because of Jesus
coming into my life,
I wouldn't be here witnessing, right?
(Derek) That's right.
(Sabina) So, I'm thankful that it happens
to be my birthday.
And, more than that, interestingly enough,
the title of this lesson,
as Pastor Derek was saying, is Remember.
And it's not without a reason.
When you look to the Scriptures,
out of the 66 books of the Bible,
Deuteronomy is one of the books where you
see the word "remember" appear the most.
I was checking here,
the word "zakar" in Hebrew,
which is the word that would translate
to "remember,"
appears in the book of Deuteronomy
15 times,
and this is just less than Psalms,
Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Jeremiah,
but proportionately it's very close
to Psalms, which is the first one.
So, we can almost say
that it's one of the books
in which the word "zakar" or "remember"
proportionately appears the most.
So, there might be a reason
why God has inspired those
who have written the Word of God
to really remember something
using this book, right?
So, to start off finding out
why are those "remembers" so important,
I'm going to ask Stephanie
if Stephanie could take us
to the book of Deuteronomy,
chapter 8, verse 18,
and we are going to start looking
at the first type of remember
that God has for us. Stephanie.
(Stephanie) The New King James
Version says:
(Sabina) Okay, so what is the type
of remember already that we see here?
Do you see something? Yes, Jason.
(Jason) Well, we need to remember God,
so we need to remember
who's the One who is in charge,
who is the One guiding us,
who is the One that we have
that relationship with.
(Sabina) So, that's a remember God, right?
That's the first remember that we see.
We also have some other texts in the Bible
where there is a similar appeal.
Maybe, Pedro, would you take us
to Jeremiah, chapter 51:50,
and there we are going to find out
a little bit more about this type
of remember that God asks us to have.
(Pedro) I'll be reading
from the New King James Version,
Jeremiah 51:50, and it says:
(Sabina) And, is there anything else here
that you see that, compared
to remembering God,
stands out to you about this experience
that they had?
Maybe, why is it that they are
here in a distant land?
It says that they are away
from their special place, Jerusalem.
Why would it be important to remember?
Yes, Jason.
(Jason) Well, because they are not
in the place where God
originally had them be.
Because, if you look
at the context of Deuteronomy,
they are about to go into this land,
and that's where, the chosen land,
God's chosen people, and yet this verse
is telling them to remember
back to that place,
because when Jeremiah is writing this,
or the context he's writing it in,
they're not in that location.
(Sabina) Yes, thank you so much.
And now maybe, Kim,
would you take us to Ecclesiastes 12:1?
That's another text in Scripture also
that we can find a similar type
of remember.
(Kim) Yes, I'll be reading
from the English Standard Version:
(Sabina) Thank you so much, Kim.
And so, why do you think it's so important
to remember God, both in the good
and in the bad days?
(Jason) Well, in our lives,
we're going to have both good
and bad days,
and if we want that relationship,
that connection with God, to be strong,
we need to have that time of remembrance
back to the good days
to get us through the bad days
that we will have that are
just a part of life.
(Sabina) Okay, interesting, yeah.
(Derek) I think a lot of times, Sabina,
we try to figure out
the solutions to our problem
rather than the One who is the solution
to all of our problems.
And so, it's interesting,
it doesn't say, "Remember the things
that the Lord can do with...," no.
Just, "Remember the Lord your God."
And so there's that focus on God
who He is, as a God who loves us,
emptied heaven for us,
and just remember Him, connect with HIm.
(Sabina) Yeah, absolutely.
I was considering also, Pastor Derek,
because we are going to see
other types of remembers
that come up here in this book,
and here is the thing:
There is a special type
of remembering of the Lord
that is not for anything
He has done for us, right?
We just need to turn to Him
as we have been discussing
in the lessons before,
not necessarily for the things
He has done or not,
but simply because He's our Creator,
right?
Yes, Pedro.
(Pedro) We see here,
going back to the first text
in chapter 8 of Deuteronomy,
he's telling that, remember God
because He's the One
who gives you power.
Now, the power aspect here we can see,
he's talking about He is the One
who provides to us.
You know, He fed them in the wilderness.
He brought them water;
He brought them the support
that they needed.
During difficult times
and during good times,
we need to know where we can
draw our strength from,
and that's from the Lord.
(Sabina) Yes, Puia.
(Puia) Back from where we read
in Ecclesiastes 12 there,
God says, "Remember your Creator
in the days of your youth."
I believe this is very practical
for young people, because when we're young
we think that we're strong
and we're healthy,
and we think that that's how life
is always going to be.
But the truth is that we get old,
and then we're not as strong
as we used to be.
And I think it's very important
to remember that one day we will be weak.
One day we will not be able to do
the things that we were
able to do when we were young.
So, serve God and remember God
when you have the strength
and all the might.
(Sabina) Exactly.
(Derek) It's also true,
Puia's correct, of course,
but you may not live to be old.
So, remembering Him now,
connect with Him now,
because today is actually the only gift
we know we have for sure.
(Sabina) Yes. Amen. Absolutely.
And one interesting thing also...
Jonathan, first you speak,
then I can share.
(Jonathan) Okay, I was just thinking
about all the different verses,
but the one that struck me first
was Deuteronomy 8:18 where it talked
about wealth, gaining wealth.
I know, if anybody had thought
about getting a house
in the last few weeks or months,
it is pretty crazy right now.
And my wife and I are
kind of in a position
where we're okay where we are,
but we really need to be at some point.
And just reading that it is God
who promises to take care of us,
we can look in the past and see
how He has, in our lives,
in all these different ways.
And so, just like we said,
in every area of our life,
we can look back and say, "Wow, Lord,
You've taken care of me."
Okay, I can trust the craziness
of the housing situation
and whatever else in my life to Him.
(Sabina) Yes, so, and not only,
as you were sharing,
in bad times or when we are
in challenges when we may need something,
but also simply for who He is
in the good days as He has
something to offer to us.
And that's not just simply
material things,
but it's a relationship.
And that relationship
is much more important than whatever it is
that He can give to us, right?
So, let's continue looking here
in Scripture,
another type of remember.
Now that we have established already
that it's simply important
to acknowledge God -
that's not a remember of, oh,
you had forgotten that God exists;
it's to acknowledge Him in your ways -
what other types of remembers
has Moses written here
for us to remember?
So, maybe, Daniel, if you could take us
to Deuteronomy, chapter 24, verse 18.
(Daniel) And I'll be reading
from the New King James Version.
Deuteronomy 24:18 says:
(Sabina) Awesome. So, what other type
of remember do we see here? Yes, Pedro.
(Pedro) We see that God is trying
to help him to remember
where they're coming from.
You know, "I'm the One
who delivered you from slavery.
You had a life before you encountered Me,
and I want you to know
that I'm here to help you.
I'm here to rescue,
and I'm here to deliver you
from your condition
that you put yourself in."
(Sabina) Okay. Puia, I saw your hand.
(Puia) Yes, I believe this text,
in the context of where this is written,
if we read the previous verse,
God is talking to them
about how they are to relate
to others, like strangers,
the fatherless, the widows,
the most vulnerable groups
of people in the society.
And He told them, "Remember
where you were from.
Remember where I delivered you from."
So, "As you relate to others,
remember that I saved you,
so be kind to others, too."
(Sabina) Yes. Jason.
(Jason) And in addition
to the Who saved them,
it's also how He saved them.
So, it's important
they remember the whole process,
because it's not like God just spoke,
and they left Egypt.
There was a whole process
that went on there,
with the plagues, with the Red Sea.
And so, this is a pattern
that's important because sometimes,
later in life when they're in a good spot,
or maybe they're going through struggles,
it's important to remember,
they'd been in struggles before,
and God has rescued them in a mighty way,
even when it seemed hopeless.
(Sabina) Yes, amazing, that's really true.
If we continue looking now
at Deuteronomy 5:15,
we are going to see
that this is a pattern.
Stephanie, would you please
read for us Deuteronomy 5:15?
(Stephanie) Sure, and I'll be reading
from the New King James Version:
(Sabina) Okay, so, what else
in this particular text can we learn?
Do you see something special here, too?
Yes, Pedro.
(Pedro) We see here that this chapter
is a revision of the Ten Commandments,
and it's very interesting to see
that the fourth commandment
being mentioned here is addressed
differently from the Ten Commandments
in the book of Exodus.
There's no change, in some ways,
of the Ten Commandments,
it's just that there was an emphasis here,
different from the emphasis
of the other mentioning.
The first time it was written, in Exodus,
it is mentioning God as a Creator
and the importance for us to worship Him
on the Sabbath day as a Creator.
And here it's showing you
it's the same aspect of worshiping God,
but not only as our Creator
but also as our Redeemer,
the One who saves us from our sins,
saves us from the slavery of sin.
Or, in their case here, reminding them
that, "I was the One
who brought you out of slavery."
(Sabina) Amen. We are going to look more
into that particular topic,
but, yeah, it's true.
That's an important shift
on the perspective of why they
should keep the Sabbath
and what could be the remember
that they would bring to their hearts now.
Also, then, let's look
at Deuteronomy 16:12, and maybe, Kim,
if you could take us there.
And we are going to start thinking,
why is it that it's important to us
to have a similar attitude
in remembering, also? Yes.
(Kim) Sure, I'll be reading
from the English Standard Version:
(Sabina) Okay, so what dol we see
in this particular Scripture here
that we can maybe relate
to our own experience?
Can you relate with someone
who has been a slave? Yes, Puia.
(Puia) Well, I have not been a slave,
to answer your last question there,
but I believe personally,
how I believe these texts
are applicable for my life
is that it reminds me
to remember my humble beginnings,
where God called me from
and how He had led me.
So, it in a way prevents me from pride
to remember that, oh,
I came from humble beginnings.
So, I need to continually depend on God,
even if He leads me to places
that I never expected to be.
And I think the word remember, itself,
kind of points out that we tend
to forget as human beings.
So, I think that's a very important word
for us, even today.
(Sabina) Yes, Daniel.
(Daniel) I'm sure that though none of us
have been slaves, literal slaves,
but we've all been slaves to sin.
And this is just a reminder for us
that God has delivered us
from whatever sins that we've
been dealing with in the past.
And it brings us hope for the future.
(Sabina) Yes, thank you, Daniel.
Yes, Jason.
(Jason) Yes, and building
off this idea from Daniel,
I've never been a physical slave
in the sense that the Hebrew people were;
however, we've been slaves,
not just to sin, but sometimes
even to the opinions of other people,
or even slaves to our jobs,
or possibly even slaves to "good" things
at times.
So, we all probably have a story
of how we've been rescued,
we've been redeemed from something
that we were a "slave"
or we were in bondage to.
(Sabina) Yes, absolutely.
And maybe to discuss further
on that topic,
why don't we read together
Ephesians, chapter 2.
We're going to read
from verse 1 to verse 13.
So, Ephesians 2, verses 1 to 13,
and maybe, Kim, if you
could take us there.
(Kim) Sure, I'll be reading
from the English Standard Version,
Ephesians, chapter 2, verses 1 through 13:
Okay, verse 11:
(Derek) Amen.
(Sabina) Thank you so much, Kim.
So, we see here, it's true
that we have not been slaves in Egypt.
Maybe some of those
who are watching us today
may have experienced living in slavery.
It is true that it's a real problem
even nowadays, unfortunately,
and we should pray for those
who are in that position.
But I think none of us has been part
of this particular group that we are
reading of here in the Bible, correct?
But, it is true that it is
still very important that we remember
the ways in which, even today,
God has delivered us from something.
And why would you say that?
Why is it so important
that we would bring that to our minds?
(Derek) I'm thinking of the Apostle Paul,
Sabina.
Three times in the book of Acts
he gives his testimony.
And you could say,
"We already heard it in chapter 9,"
but he tells it again and again.
I think it's important for two reasons.
One, I think it reaffirms
in our own hearts how good
God has been to us.
Like, Daniel said, He's
delivered us from bondage.
But it's also very powerful
for people around us,
because we call that a testimony, right?
It's our testimony of what God has done
in our lives,
and I think that's why Paul
is constantly sharing; he says,
"I'm the worst of sinners," you know,
"Christ died..., I'm the chief one."
And people are moved
by that kind of testimony.
So, I think the human response would be,
"I don't want to talk about my mistakes."
Well, we shouldn't glorify them,
but we should be willing to say,
"This is where I was when Jesus found me.
And this is what He did for me,
and here is where I am now,"
that's my testimony.
(Sabina) Yes, and also, Pastor Derek,
what I'm thinking is that not only do you
show to other people,
but also it will change the way
that we deal with others.
Just as God was using
this particular verse here
to help them understand
why they should treat others
unlike they were treated,
so, in the same manner, when we consider
God's grace in our lives,
we also are going to extend grace
to others, right?
(Team) Yes.
(Sabina) I'm curious to hear
some of the stories here in our group.
Jonathan, do you have a story?
(Jonathan) While I am thinking of a story,
although I probably could,
I was just thinking how, in verse 7,
you get this picture that in the future
when we're in heaven,
we'll be for eternal ages rejoicing,
and that will be the glory of Christ,
is seeing what He did in our lives.
And just throughout heaven's eternal ages,
that will be not what we've done
but what He's done in our lives.
It's kind of a picture that amazed me.
(Sabina) Amen. Yes, Jason.
(Jason) So, I used to be a slave
to the opinions of others.
And I still, it matters, you know,
what other people think,
maybe in relationship
to being a good witness to Christ.
But I remember many times
I would be too afraid to do something,
whether it was right or wrong,
simply because of what another person
thought.
If a friend thought
that this would be uncool,
I wouldn't want to do it.
Or, if they thought, "I saw a friend
wearing their hat backwards,"
I would want to wear my hat backwards.
And it's not so much whether it's
right or wrong, the behavior,
but it's, I was doing this
because I cared so much
about what this other person thought.
Or, I wanted to wear my shirt this way
because this is how another person did.
And so, there was a time, yeah,
when I wasn't a physical slave,
but I was a slave to the opinion
of others.
And I basically had
to go through experiences
where I realized it doesn't matter
what other people think;
what matters is what God thinks.
(Sabina, Team) Amen.
(Derek) That's a breakthrough.
(Sabina) So, anyone else
with a beautiful experience
of deliverance,
where God has delivered you so far?
I'm sure you have been delivered
of something.
Well, I can say...
(Derek) Travis, I think...
(Sabina) Oh, Travis, go ahead, share.
(Travis) Well, God has
delivered me in many ways.
I think there's a verse in the Bible
that says, "God, I can't
count the ways," right?
Well, that's kind of where I am
in my walk,
but I know that I'm not the man
that I want to be, and I desire
to be a godly man.
But as I look back at my past,
I do recognize that there are things
that I don't do now
that I used to do before.
And that can only be explained
by the fact that God
is a loving, miracle-working God,
and He's promised to finish the work
in all of us.
But I hang on that promise all the time.
I'm just thankful that, while I may
not be where I want to be,
that I see things falling off,
the closer and closer that I get to Jesus,
and the more and more I walk with Him.
And for me, that's
just been an amazing journey.
(Sabina) Wow, thank you
so much for sharing, Travis.
I was sharing also that I,
when I look to my life,
it's like Travis was sharing,
there are many things
I can kind of recall, you know, events
of things that God
was changing my course.
But certainly I think that the main one
is when I came to Jesus.
He changed my course
and delivered me from meaninglessness
and gave me a mission.
So, a person who is walking,
not exactly knowing what they were
about in life,
who are seeking for meaning,
who are seeking for direction,
God gave me a mission,
and this mission is still valid.
It's been now 20 years
since I came to Jesus,
and this mission only grows and grows.
So, He not only delivers us from sin,
but He can deliver us
from, as Jason was saying,
a kind of self-consciousness
or excessive consideration of things
we shouldn't be considering
or sin of any sort, or in my case,
as I was saying,
a sense of meaninglessness
and giving me a mission.
So, I'm sure that whoever
is watching us today
may have so many stories of ways
that God has delivered you thus far;
even if you have not been
a slave in Egypt,
you can bring that to your memory, right?
And let's look a little further,
then, in Scriptures,
because, not only we are going
to acknowledge that we are
supposed to remember the ways
that God has delivered us,
but also this is part of remembering
our past history of the Lord, right?
So maybe, Pedro, if you
would take us to Deuteronomy 32:7.
So, we'll be reading
from Deuteronomy 32:7 and learn
a little more about this remember
that God has for us.
(Pedro) Sure, I'll be reading
from the New King James Version,
Deuteronomy 32:7, and it says:
(Sabina) Okay, so what is it
that Moses is calling, here,
the people to do?
(Sabina) Yes, Stephanie.
(Stephanie) Remember the past.
(Sabina) Remember the past. Yes, Pedro.
(Pedro) Reading this, it reminds me
of reading my Bible, because looking
to "consider many generations."
Ask what your parents have
gone through in the past.
But I think we have
a collection of history here
of how God's people have been affected
by choosing God and also not choosing him,
and take into consideration
and take the right act.
(Sabina) Yes, I see Travis' hand up.
(Travis) I'm thinking, too,
as we're reading this,
that God is telling us
this isn't just biblical history
that we could look into.
I mean, we have religious leaders,
I have religious mentors
and people who are older than me,
who've had past experiences,
and it's great to seek counsel.
You know, when it's the past,
or we can look at the Reformation
over the years and things like that
and see where God has led people
in the past
and see where people
have failed in the past,
because in that we can gain knowledge
for the future.
(Sabina) Amen. Yes.
So maybe, also, if we look, now,
in Romans 15:4,
can someone read Romans 15:4?
And, Jason, would you
read that for us, please?
(Jason) Sure, I have
the New King James Version here.
Romans, chapter 15, verse 4, says:
(Sabina) Wow.
(Derek) So, I think it's
really important, Sabina,
we're not just asking parents
and grandparents, "Tell us some stories."
We're asking how they've seen God
leading in their lives,
because it's our past history
with the Lord that we want to remember.
And sometimes we may be surprised
when grandma shares
a life-changing experience that she had
and how it affected the course of her life
and then her children and now you.
So, I think these are the stories,
because we could preoccupy ourselves
just with information
about the family tree,
but it's, "Grandma, grandpa, mom, dad,
tell me how you've seen God, the Lord,
leading in your life, in our family."
(Sabina) Yeah, and Pastor Derek,
you just made me remember
Deuteronomy 6, verses 6 and 7,
and that's right after the Shema,
which we have studied previously here
in one of our classes.
And it's interesting that God,
knowing the way that we are tailored,
you know, the way that we are made,
He encourages the people of Israel
to actually do that, to teach each other
in walking in the way.
And that's Deuteronomy 6:6,7;
Stephanie, would you read that
for us, please?
(Stephanie) Sure, and the New
King James Version says:
(Sabina) Wow, and even further,
verse 8 says:
So, I think it's very gracious of God
that He gave us the Word.
And, as we saw in Romans,
as Jason read for us here, Scriptures,
they were given with a purpose.
And God, knowing how we were made,
He wanted us to have the opportunity
to, through repetition, remember it,
to have it fixed in our long-term memory.
He was not trying to make it hard for us
to remember those things.
In writing, in teaching
how we should teach,
He wants us to have
a better ability of remembering, even,
because we are short-sighted,
short memory.
If you look at the ways that people learn,
even the ways that they
learn to memorize things,
usually it takes repetition.
That's the third step.
I don't know if someone knows
some things here about cognition
and how you learn,
the thing is that you need attention,
and then you have this retention.
And the final process is that you need
to recover the information.
And God, knowing that
because He created us,
He not only asks His people
to keep doing so to help each other,
but also He reminds us here
in the New Testament
that we should ourselves be looking
at Scripture for learning. Yes, Pedro.
(Pedro) I found that very important,
because many times when we're looking
into content or information about people,
there's always the aspect of influence.
What is this person trying
to bring to your life?
You know, you read a book;
what is the purpose of this book?
And we see that the Bible
and the Christian realm,
where people are trying to help you
reach to Christ.
I had a conversation
with someone yesterday who was asking
about why the book of Judges was written,
why those stories were written.
It's for us to remember
what the condition of man is
when God is not present.
So, why we have some
of those horrible stories,
well, they're not to give you nightmares.
It's for us to remember what happens
when we separate from God
and we do as we please.
(Sabina) Yes. Jonathan.
(Jonathan) Yeah, I think
this is a powerful reminder
for the need for family worship.
I've been a part of, well,
my current in-laws are great
with family worship.
They are always having
all these kids involved.
And we have a worship every Friday night
with the whole family over Zoom.
And we can see that there's
a real challenge
with the younger generations
that don't know their Bibles,
and how do we help them.
So, I think this is addressing
that same problem that has
always been a challenge
of how we help the next generation
learn who God is; it's finding time
to remind them what He's done
in our lives,
what He's done in Scripture,
and putting that before them
so they don't forget.
(Sabina) So, it sounds like
it's not just about our own process
of memorizing and remembering things,
but also it's for other people.
Yes, Pedro.
(Pedro) I agree with Jonathan,
and even more, that's why
we have Sabbath School.
You know, Hope Sabbath School
is here to help us go through the Bible
and remind ourselves what God
has said in His Word.
Every day, I have to worship
with my daughter at home,
and it's so good to be reminded
through her stories, simple stories,
the life of David and Daniel,
and see that she's absorbing that.
And I'm able to be reminded
of God's love through that teaching.
(Sabina) Amen. Yes.
That's truly amazing, right, isn't it,
and to have a father -
I thank God, Pedro, because I'm sure
your daughter is going to remember
a lot of the things that you
and your wife are teaching to her.
And that's to the glory of God
and for her good, right?
And I see that God also,
He is trying to make
a similar process to help us
to remember His goodness.
You know, when I think about the feasts
that were established
in the Old Testament,
even the feasts, each one of them,
they had a purpose of helping people
to remember God's plan of salvation,
to remember God's goodness,
their deliverance, to look forward
for the future.
So, even if someone didn't have access
to the Word of God at that time,
if it was not as accessible
as it is for us,
they could remember
even through their rituals
about God's goodness, right?
Jason, were you saying something?
I saw you were agreeing with that.
(Jason) I was just saying yes,
and that's awesome having the rituals,
having the sacrifices,
because they're an object lesson.
So, we have the Word of God,
we can read it, but for those
who couldn't,
they could see it in action.
(Sabina) Amen. Yes, so it's
a good thing to help us, right?
Like it's some material, visual something.
Their senses were involved also
in that experience, so that probably they
would more easily remember the things
that God had been doing in their lives
as a people, and personally, also.
So, let's look further here.
Maybe we should turn to Deuteronomy 8,
if we could go there.
Kim, would you take us there, please,
Deuteronomy, chapter 8, and if you
would read verses 2 and 4.
(Kim) Sure, I'll be reading
from the English Standard Version,
Deuteronomy 8, verse 2:
Verse 4:
(Sabina) Wow. So, these people,
they really had wonderful things
to remember about what God had done
in their lives, right?
Isn't it amazing, imagine spending
40 years wandering in the desert,
and the Word of God says
that their garments did not wear out,
and neither did their feet swell
during these 40 years.
So, just like with them, I imagine
that some of us here
among, not only the people
who are watching us,
but our really little group here,
that maybe you have some experience
with God in which He
has been blessing you, and His presence
and power have been revealed.
Would you like to share
some of those experiences, maybe, with us.
Yes, Travis.
(Travis) Well, I'm going to share
an experience actually, a testimony
that I have experienced
with somebody else.
Her name was Sherry, actually she wrote in
a couple of years ago
through Hope Sabbath School.
And I had been conversing
with her for two years,
and now she's part of a Bible study
that I do every Friday night.
But she seemed, you know, just down.
And we would share Bible experiences;
this is what this was all about.
We would go back and reflect
on Bible promises, Bible experiences,
and this has been happening
week after week through the years.
And I have never seen
such a transformation.
Just this last week,
she's in our Bible study, and she's happy.
It's like God has transformed her,
and I'm thinking, as we're going
through this study,
"Well, it was the Word of God
where she saw God leading
other people in the past
through the Scriptures,
that has transformed and changed
her life."
And she's just a miracle,
and it's a blessing to have her
in our study.
(Sabina) Awesome. Any other stories?
Yes, Jonathan.
(Jonathan) One that I
always like to go back to
was when I was a student missionary
in the Philippines.
It was living out in a grass hut,
nothing there,
just way away from everything.
I had to hike to it a little ways.
But, the people there,
we were so close to them.
A small group of us student missionaries,
we were very close to the need
and to depending upon God.
And I remember so many times up there
where I was seeking God,
and God really showed Himself up
and kind of called me
to where I am today
and kind of gave me a picture
of where I should be.
And so that was a very memorable place
to go back to.
(Sabina) Awesome, that sounds
so impressive.
Puia, you had your hand out also?
(Puia) Yes, I struggled for a while
in my teenage years with doubts
about God's existence and God's
love for me.
And I remember very dark times in my faith
where I struggled to hold onto God.
And I remember in my darkest hours,
filled with questions that I cannot answer
and filled with doubts
and discouragement in my faith,
I remember experiencing the presence
of God in a way that I have
never experienced before, where I felt
that Jesus was very close to me,
even in my darkest hour.
So, that is what I go back to
whenever I experience difficult times
today.
I remember, "God was with me there,"
And so, He's going
to be with me now, too.
(Sabina) Amen. Amen.
That sounds amazing; thank you,
Puia, for sharing that story.
I also have a story
that I often bring back to memory
that happened to me
when I was a teenager;
I was about 18.
I remember being in a classroom,
and a professor was speaking
against Jesus,
and I decided just to leave the class.
I took my things with me and I left.
And I remember having a long conversation
with God on my path back home,
and really upset, disappointed
because that person appeared
to be prospering in their ways.
You know, as a professor,
he was well known,
people liked him and everything.
But I felt so disenfranchised
during that time
and also very upset
because he was speaking against Jesus.
So, when I arrived home,
my sister, she told me that she knew
I was coming back home.
She was praying;
God impressed her, the Holy Spirit.
And she asked me to read
two passages in the Bible,
one in the book of Psalm 73
and another one in the book
of Songs of Solomon
that I forgot already, unfortunately.
I didn't take note at the time.
And interestingly enough,
we don't have time here,
but if you would read Psalm 73,
it was exactly every one
of my thoughts in order,
how I had thought of them one by one,
even in my conversation
when we got back home.
He was just revealing to me
everything just how I had just thought.
And I find it amazing
that He knows us so fully.
And what's more interesting,
Pastor Derek,
is that when I came to the seminary,
I learned that Psalm 73
happens to be a Psalm
that points to the final conclusion
of what's going to happen
to those who are not following God.
In simple words, you know,
God is giving, there, the response
to evil.
It says that one day
there will be a judgment.
At the time that I read the Psalm,
I was just impressed how God
could know my every thought.
But nowadays I even know
that He was actually responding
to me, to my concern.
So, that's a memorable experience
that I had with Him
that I will never forget.
And I often bring it to memory.
If I'm going shaky on my faith,
or a little unhappy or sad,
I know He knows my every thought.
Yes, Pastor Derek.
(Derek) I've been blessed, Sabina,
as I'm sure many have,
to see many miracles in my life,
miracles of transformation,
people, just their lives turned around.
Whenever that happens, I sit down
and I write it down.
And I put the day, the date.
I remember a young lady
who used to cut herself and burn herself.
She had so much pain.
I remember the day, May 13,
I can give you the year,
when Jesus healed her.
And I write that down.
It's like building a little altar
of worship to God.
And, you know, one
of our early Adventist pioneers
wrote a book, Way Marks and High Heaps.
What he meant is build
some places that remind you,
just like the children of Israel
stacked those stones up
as a reminder, "Thus far God has led us."
I think it's really powerful
and really the theme of the lesson
is don't forget those times,
and don't let your momma
or your grandpa forget those times either.
Let them tell you those stories.
And you have nothing
to fear for the future
if you'll remember the way
God has led you in your past.
And, of course, that's why the enemy
wants us to just forget those things - no!
Remember, remember the Lord,
remember what He's done in your life,
remember His activity
in your past history, so valuable.
And then you have a testimony to share.
(Sabina) Amen. Pastor Derek.
Yeah, that's a good idea,
just keep record of that.
One day maybe you can
share that with other people.
So, we also have another type of remember.
We are going to look there very quickly.
So, we saw already in Deuteronomy
that there is the type of remember
of simply a knowledge of God,
remembering that He exists
and giving Him honor.
We also recognized that there is a type
of call to remember
where He delivered you from
and how He delivered you,
whatever is the case,
your sin or a bad situation in your life.
And we also have considered
that He asks us simply to remember
His works in general in your life.
And now, we also have
a different type of remember,
and we are going to check there,
and Pedro, I think, had already
started off on that topic.
So, Pedro, maybe if you could
take us back there, and that's
in Deuteronomy 4:40.
No, before that, I'm sorry,
let's look at Deuteronomy 5:12.
(Pedro) Okay, I'll be reading
from the New King James Version,
Deuteronomy 5:12, and it says:
(Sabina) Okay, so what type
of remember is different here?
That it's different than what we've
seen before in the Sabbath commandment
because here it appears
as "observe," and not "remember," right?
(Pedro) Yes, when we're looking
through the texts, and I read verse 15,
which was in the same context
or the same commandment,
you know, the fourth commandment.
And He asks us to remember
the aspect of the slavery
they had gone through.
But when we see "observe,"
we're also reminded
that in the fourth commandment in Exodus,
we see the word "remember."
And observing and remembering
have a correlation with each other.
And God wants us to remind ourselves
that He is our Creator.
He is the One who made us
in the first place.
(Derek) I think "observe"
is an active remembrance.
You know, "I remember,
I'm not going to do anything about it,
but I remember...," no, no.
This is saying "actively remember,"
and the Sabbath is a gift of a time
to actively remember God,
how He delivered you,
His leading in your past history.
Well, when you think about that,
you can look forward to every Sabbath
because He's not only our Creator,
but He is the One who has delivered us.
And actively remembering that, I think,
brings joy and courage
and hope to your life.
(Sabina) Yes, so, it doesn't mean
that He was no longer
willing them to remember, right?
So, it's not that it was missing.
It's not that in the second time
that Moses was reinforcing the law
that this was no longer important,
but actually that it was very important.
Maybe it was now part
of their life already,
but they needed to keep doing it
instead of ever stopping.
So, as we come to the closure
of the lesson,
I would like you to share with me
what do we need to do...
What do we do that eventually can
cause us to forget everything
that God has done for us? Yes, Travis.
(Travis) I was thinking on a point
that we just made about the Sabbath.
There was a general friend of mine
that I made friends with in Australia.
And he had shared with me
how he would fall occasionally.
And it seemed to be a period
of every seven days.
He said, "I'll be good,
and then I would stumble into sin."
And then it made me think of the Sabbath,
and as we're just discussing this,
I'm thinking, God has given us
the Sabbath as a time to reflect
on how He has led,
and how He has delivered in the past.
If we take that day to spend with Him
as a day of reflection,
by the end of the six days,
maybe, as Derek had mentioned,
you know, if we didn't do that,
we would fail to remember
the way God has led.
So, taking that time to reflect,
I think it is important,
because when we take the time
to reflect on how He has led in the past,
as Derek mentioned earlier,
we don't have to fear the future.
(Sabina) So, we're saying
that if we don't bring
those things to memory, we may forget.
Yes, Jason, I see you have
something else to share.
(Jason) Sure, so we can forget,
and Deuteronomy actually talks about this.
We don't have time to read it,
but in Deuteronomy 8:10-17
there's a whole description
that Moses warns the people.
It talks about when they're full,
they had forgotten God.
They had all this prosperity.
And so, it's not that God
doesn't want us to have these things,
but we need to make sure
that these things don't separate us
from remembering where we were.
And so, if we have
too much satisfaction in those things,
that it sort of takes us
away from where we were
and makes us somehow forget
who gave us these things
in the first place, which is God.
(Sabina) Amen. Yes, Pedro.
(Pedro) I love what Derek had mentioned,
observe, it's an active remember.
There are so many things we can do,
spending time with God
and spending time listening,
spending time with the time
that He has prepared for us.
Those are things that we can do
actively to remember; I love that.
Thank you for sharing that.
(Sabina) Awesome. Thank you so much.
I really just want to encourage
each one of those who are watching us
to bring to your memory
the things that give you hope.
I'm reminded of this verse
in the book of Lamentations
that says that we need to bring
to our mind the things
that will give us hope.
And I'm sure you have
already experienced something with God.
Even if you have been away from His path,
bring to memory when was that day
where He found you
in your moment of sadness,
when He delivered you.
Where did He bring you from?
I know where He brought me from,
and I'm so excited that I am here
standing before you and before God,
not because I'm perfect
or because I have anything special
to offer of my own,
but because He has delivered me.
He has done things to me,
and because I keep
bringing them to my memory,
I keep looking to them and to God,
I know that there is a future
that awaits me, even in the moments
of difficulties.
So, thank you so much,
and please stay with us.
(Derek) Amen. Thank you so much, Sabina.
Let's pray together.
Father in heaven, our hearts
are strangely warm.
We just want to praise You.
You've been so good to us,
and we don't want to forget.
We want to remember You as our God,
how You've delivered us
and how You've led in our past history.
And, God, we just want
to praise You forever,
so accept our worship today,
and may we always keep You first
and foremost in our lives.
In Your holy name we pray. Amen.
(Team) Amen.
(Derek) Thanks for joining us
for Hope Sabbath School.
Go out and share the good news
with those around you.
♪ theme music ♪