HSS_2021_Q4_EP10

♪ 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 [e-mail].

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 ♪