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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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I'm glad you joined us today

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as we continue a life-changing series

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of studies on the Gospel of Matthew.

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Today we're going to talk

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about "The Teachings of Jesus

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about the Last Days."

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A relevant topic,

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and I know you'll be blessed.

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So welcome to Hope Sabbath School

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and welcome to our team.

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What a great series of studies.

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I'm so thankful that the Spirit of God

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inspired a former tax collector,

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Levi Matthew, to write this account,

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and I'm excited today because

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one of our team, T ricia Lee,

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is going to be leading in our study.

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Tricia Lee, thanks for your commitment

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to the Word of God,

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and I know God is going to bless us

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in wonderful ways.

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We're just so glad

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that you're part of Hope Sabbath School,

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and when you write to us it brings joy

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to our hearts to hear[br]how God is blessing you.

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You can write to sshope@hopetv.org.

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You can also write a note

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on our Facebook page;

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we've got more than 150,000 followers

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on Facebook now, and it's wonderful.

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Sometimes we'll put a picture of you,

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if you send one.

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We're just part of a global family

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seeking God and wanting to be used

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to bless others with His Word.

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So thanks for writing.

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Ely writes from California.

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Anybody from California?

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Some of you have lived[br]in California, right?

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Okay.

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"Greetings to every Hope[br]Sabbath School member."

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Several of you look happy.

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"I watch your program every day.

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I learn a lot from the discussion.

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I also downloaded the app,

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and I love to watch the archives.

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I feast on the Word of God every day."

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Well, Ely, thanks for letting other

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Hope Sabbath School members know

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that if you go to our website,

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hopetv.org/hopess,

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you can not only watch programs

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in this series on the Gospel of Matthew

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that you might have missed,

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but you can watch a[br]multitude of past programs

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with wonderful topics

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that will be a blessing.

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If you have the app on your iPhone

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or your smartphone, you can access

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the archives there; you can watch

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all kinds of wonderful Bible studies.

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So thanks for putting in a little promo,

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Ely, for the app, and that's

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a wonderful blessing to many people.

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James writes from Ghana.

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Anyone with Ghanaian roots?

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We do have some occasionally on our team,

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don't we?

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"I enjoy your class and the contributions

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you make.

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I pick your contributions,

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and I replicate them in my class

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when I teach in my church."

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Is that good?

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(Team) Yes.

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(Derek) That's exactly[br]what we're hoping for.

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"Oh, how I wish I could contribute live,"

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says James.

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"Send my greetings to the[br]Hope Sabbath School team."

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Well, James, if you come over

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when we're filming, we'd love to have you

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as part of the program,

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but, you know, we're equally excited

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to know that you're leading a Bible study

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program there in your homeland of Ghana,

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and, along with tens of thousands

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who are downloading that outline,

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we're glad you're teaching[br]the Word to others.

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Benson writes from Kenya,

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and I know we've got one Kenyan.

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Eric, wave to your brother from Kenya.

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All right, a big smile for Benson

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writing from Kenya, "I[br]follow your programs.

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I am a Sunday School teacher."

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So Benson's teaching the Word

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in his church.

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"Please don't give up because your work

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is not in vain."

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(Team) Amen.

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(Derek) Ah, that's awesome!

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"God bless you all, amen."

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Well Benson, to know that you're a witness

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there in your church in Kenya

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brings great joy to our hearts.

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You encourage

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your other Sunday School members

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to watch Hope Sabbath School,

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and they'll learn much more about

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the Word of God, too.

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Here's one last note, actually, I've got

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a couple here; lots of people writing.

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I want to thank Jean

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for writing from Russia.

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You say, "Jean doesn't sound Russian."

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Well, Jean is from Rwanda,

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studying in Russia.

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"I greet you in the might name of[br]our soon-coming Savior Jesus Christ."

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(Team) Amen.

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(Derek) "Peace be with you.

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I am Rwandese, currently living

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and studying in Russia."

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Now I want you to listen[br]to Jean's testimony.

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"I discovered Hope Sabbath School

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in late 2014 shortly[br]after I came to Russia.

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I used to go through the[br]Sabbath School study by myself

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because I didn't have[br]anyone to study with me.

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Even after I discovered[br]a church in the city,

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it was still difficult because all[br]of the services were held in"...?

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(Team) Russian.

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(Derek) "...Russian, and I just[br]was learning the language.

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As a response to my longings,..."

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Somebody is going to say "amen" here,

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"As a response to my longings,

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God revealed Hope Sabbath School to me,"

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(Team) Amen.

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(Derek) "...and I was able to be part

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of the in-depth study of[br]the Word of God in English.

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It blessed me so much that even though

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I've now acquired enough language skills

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to discuss the lesson in Russian,

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I still watch Hope Sabbath School,

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and I'm blessed by that.

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I pray that you keep serving,[br]letting people know

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about the Word of God and that you

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might even broadcast[br]in different languages

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to reach many unreached[br]places for Christ."

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Well, Jean, I want to ask you to pray

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because we are moving forward [br]with closed captioning,

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and we are looking for the opportunity

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for volunteer translators in a multitude

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of different languages so that people

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who don't have English as their language,

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even a major second language,

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will be able to watch and[br]read the closed captioning

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because, you know this[br]Gospel of the KIngdom

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is going to go the whole World,

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and then Jesus will come back,

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isn't that right?

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(Team) Amen.

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(Derek) So thank you for[br]being a witness there

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while you're studying in Russia.

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One last note from Alexander in Zimbabwe.

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Anyone from Zimbabwe?

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Simiso, hold your hand up[br]and wave to your brother,

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and we'll get that on the screen,

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all the way from Zimbabwe.

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"Greetings, Hope Sabbath School team."

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(Team) Greetings!

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(Derek) "I'm blessed to be watching

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Hope Sabbath School in Harare,

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capital of Zimbabwe.

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I really enjoy the discussions;

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they're so interactive and informative.

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May God bless you, the entire[br]Hope Sabbath School team,

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for spreading the Word of God."

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Well, you say that's a lot of emails

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coming from around the world,

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and, you know, we are just so glad

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that we can be part of a global family.

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And we're going to sing together now

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as a global family,

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and then Tricia Lee's going to lead us

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in a powerful study of the Word of God,

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"The Teachings of Jesus[br]about the Last Days,"

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but were singing now, Psalm 148.

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I hope you've learned it for this series,

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"Praise Him in the Heights."

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♪ music ♪

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(Derek) You know, I've got a feeling

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when we're done with this series,

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we're going to be singing[br]this in our sleep,

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but what a great Psalm to sing,

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"Praise Him in the Heights,"

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and, Tricia Lee, as you lead our[br]study today, I know we'll have a lot

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to praise Jesus for as He gives[br]us hope for the last days.

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(Tricia Lee) Amen, amen.

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Let us pray.

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Dear Lord, we need your Holy Spirit

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to help us to understand the times

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that we're living in.

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We need your Holy Spirit to help[br]us understand Your Word to us

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about the Last Days.

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Please bless this study,

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in Christ's name we pray, amen.

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(Derek, Team) Amen.

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(Tricia Lee) I am so excited that God

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has not left us in the dark about[br]what to expect will happen

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in the Last Days.

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Some people are very anxious[br]or nervous about the things

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that happen at the end of time.

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Some people have heard rumors or[br]strange stories of the apocalypse

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or even science fiction zombies,

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but God's Word reveals[br]to us what to expect.

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So as we study together, let's just[br]thank God that He has not left us

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in darkness about what[br]will come in the Last Days.

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(Derek, Team) Amen.

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(Tricia Lee) Let us turn our study

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to the Book of Matthew chapter 23.

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Before we hear what Jesus[br]teaches about the Last Days,

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first we find our study right[br]after the Triumphal Entry.

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Jesus has entered Jerusalem, and[br]He has met the religious leaders,

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and unfortunately they are filled[br]with envy and anger towards Him,

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and with a sorrowful heart He beings[br]to pronounce series of woes to them.

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Woe means misery or trouble to come,

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bad things that are happening, so [br]He's arning them about the condition

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of their hard hearts and what that means.

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So let's see first, before[br]we talk about the Last Days,

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what Christ says to the religious[br]leaders and to the people at the time