HSS2501001

♪ theme music ♪

(Derek) Welcome to Hope Sabbath School,

an in-depth, interactive study

of the Word of God.

I am excited today as we begin

a brand new series

on God's Love and Justice.

In fact, I feel like we are walking

on holy ground, and I'm glad

that you joined us as we talk

about a God who loves freely.

So, welcome to Hope Sabbath School

and welcome to the team,

good to see you all.

Thanks for being here.

We've got some remote team members

with us, too; let's take a look

and see who's joining us remotely today.

Faith, good to see you,

glad you're with us.

Tricia Lee, welcome back,

always good to see you.

And, Gleny, great

to have you with us today.

We're so glad that you're with us, too,

because you're part

of our global interactive study together.

And we're always happy to hear from you,

our Hope Sabbath School members

from around the world.

You can write to us at [e-mail].

You say, "Derek, I've memorized that."

Well, then send us a note

and share with us how God is blessing you

through a study of His Word.

You say, "Derek, I'm actually teaching

a class; I'm downloading the outline

from the website, and I'm sharing

the Word of God; praise God.

Write to us and let us know.

Here's a note from Kyrol

who writes to us from Papua New Guinea,

and he says, "I'm truly blessed

every Sabbath since I started watching

Hope Sabbath School

through YouTube last year."

Well, I don't know.

It's always dangerous to say

how many subscribers we have.

It's close to [120,000],

but probably that will be out of date,

Travis, by the next time we read it.

But one of them is Kyrol

in Papua New Guinea; isn't that awesome?

(Team) Praise God.

(Derek) "I've watched every Sabbath
morning

before I go to Bible study.

Glory, honor and praise be to God

for the Hope Sabbath School team."

And we say? Praise God, right?

"May God continue to bless

and use all of you as His witnesses

to share His amazing truths

before Christ returns."

What do we say?

(Derek, Team) Amen.

(Derek) Kyrol, thanks for writing to us

from Papua New Guinea, and we're glad

you are part of our global family.

Well, Suwilanji writes to us from Zambia

and says, "I am a Pentecostal preacher

in Zambia, and I'm addicted

to Hope Sabbath School."

(Team) Wow.

(Derek) Well, Suwilanji, thanks

for writing to us.

We're happy that you're sharing

the gospel in your country

and learning more about the Word of God

on Hope Sabbath School.

Thanks for your note.

Here's a hand-written note

from a donor in Maryland

in the United States of America.

For those of you who may not know,

we actually film Hope Sabbath School

in the state of Maryland.

And the donor writes,

"Hello, Hope Sabbath School."

You know they do that

so you'll wave, right?

"I'm so happy to be with you once again

to see your smiling faces,

to be part of your interactive study

that blesses my heart immensely.

The study is so plain

that even an 84-year-old

like me can understand.

The team members' testimonies

are such a blessing to me.

I thank God for the Hope
Sabbath School team

spreading the gospel around the world.

Enclosed is a small contribution,"

the donor writes, but no donation is small

when God blesses it,

a donation of 50 dollars.

Thank you so much, Donor in Maryland.

You know who you are.

And thanks to each one of you.

We're a donor-supported minsitry.

You say, "Derek, could I have a part?"

Absolutely! Go to our website,

hopetv.org/hopess,

click on the yellow button

and give online, or you get an address

and write us a note

just like this donor did.

Thank you to each one

for being part of this miracle.

One last note, and I'm looking at Travis

over here, Travis, because Nadine

is writing from Guyana.

So, I don't know if we can all

give her a wave, but, Nadine, we want

you to know one of our team members,

Travis, was just in Guyana

holding some meetings, and so that's

a special place in [his] heart.

"Thank you," Nadine writes,

"for Hope Sabbath School.

You are such a blessing to us.

An interactive study of the Word of God

helps me to have

a closer relationship with Jesus."

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) That's why we do it!

You know, the demons know a lot

about the Bible, and people

could win a Bible quiz and be lost.

But when you study the Bible and have

a closer relationship with Jesus,

that's eternal salvation, isn't it?
Awesome.

"May God continue to bless you all.

We love you all. Nadine."

Well, Nadine, thanks for writing to us,

and I'm excited that you are all part

of our global family.

We would love to hear

from you, so, write to us.

I noticed a lot of you put comments

on the YouTube channel when you watch,

and that's great, too, but you can

also write to us at [e-mail].

Well, today we're going to learn

a new theme song.

It is 3,000 years old.

We sing Scripture songs here

on Hope Sabbath School.

It is Psalm 63, and it says,

"O God, You are my God;

early will I seek You,"

but we lost the tune somewhere

in the last 3,000 years,

so my wife put a new tune to it.

And you can go to our website

and download the song free

and the sheet music, if you'd like

to sing it in your Bible study group.

Just go to hopetv.org/hopess,

that's our web address,

and you can download the song,

sheet music, and sing it.

We'd like to teach it to you right now.

♪ music ♪

(Derek) Amen? Wow, that was beautiful.

I hear you sing, too.

You say, "Derek, you couldn't hear us,"

but I was just imagining you singing.

And I just want to challenge us

with the thought, when the enemy

comes upon us like a flood,

we just sing that song, "O God,

You are my God;

early will I seek You," right?

We can run to God, a God

of love and mercy who will welcome us

with loving arms.

Well, great to see

our remotes singing, too.

I know we can't see you all,

but you're singing the Word, too,

and we're hiding that Word in our hearts.

Today, we're going to study

how God Loves Freely.

It's an amazing study, and we invite you

to pray with us as we

open the Word of God.

Father in Heaven, thank You

for the revelation in the Word of God.

The Scripture is given

by inspiration of God

and is profitable for us.

Guide us in our interactive study today

by your Holy Spirit.

We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) Well, we're going to start

in the book of Exodus,

that's the second book

of the Hebrew Scriptures, the second book

of the Pentateuch as it's called.

In Exodus, chapter 33, and, Puia,

I'm going to ask you to begin our study

today by reading verses 12 to 19.

I want to invite you and those joining

around the world to listen

to what revelation we see

of the character of God,
here in Exodus 33.

(Puia) Sure, and I'll be reading

from the New King James Version,

Exodus 33, verses 12 to 19:

(Derek) Wow, that is amazing dialogue

between the Lord and Moses.

What are some lessons we can learn

just from hearing it if we

just had that one Scripture?

What could we learn

about the character of God? Kylynda?

(Kylynda) God wants to be with us.

(Derek) So, He's a relational God,

which, by the way, we ought not to take

for granted because a lot of pictures

of God are like, "Well, He did something,

and then He left." Harold?

(Harold) Very personable, because you

can talk to Him as a Person.

(Derek) He wants a relationship,

and He's communicating.

Alright. Yes, James.

(James) He is a God of companionship.

Moses asked for a companion,

and God said, "I will be your Companion."

(Derek) "I will go

with you," that's right.

Gleny, what do you hear in this text

that impresses you

about the character of God?

(Gleny) Besides all that was mentioned,

we see that He is good,

He shows a lot of compassion,

and He desires to be known.

(Derek) Alright, that's a good point
Gleny makes.

His goodness, don't take that

for granted, you know?

It's that God is good.

He wants a relationship with us. Don?

(Don) Also with the first text,

"I know you by your name."

(Derek) Thank you for pointing that out.

So, talk about companionship

but not just with Moses, He wants

a personal relationship with us.

Now, to put that in context,

Sophia, if you could go back one chapter

with us, take us back to Exodus 32

and read the first three verses.

Let's have a little context.

God is saying, "I want a relationship

with you; I want to show

My compassion and love."

Let's see what's just happened

as part of the exodus.

(Sophia) I'll be reading

from the New King James Version,

chapter 32, verses 1 through 3:

(Derek) And what did they do with that,
anybody remember?

(Team) Golden calf.

(Derek) They made a golden calf!

And not only did they make a golden calf,

but what did they say?

(Sophia) "This is our god."

(Derek) That, "you're the god that brought

us out of Egypt"!

I mean, it's like, terrible!

And yet, in the context of that,

God shows His love.

Now, I want to ask Tricia Lee a question.

Tricia Lee, we always appreciate

hearing from you.

Tricia Lee, it says, "I will

have compassion on whom I

will have compassion,"

but tell me somewhere else

in the Scripture, how many people

does God have compassion on?

(Tricia Lee) God has compassion

on all people; we know that

from John, chapter 3, verse 16.

(Derek) And what does it say there?

Have you memorized it?

(Tricia Lee) It says, "For God

so loved the world that He gave

His only begotten Son, that whosoever

believes in Him should not perish

but have everlasting life."

(Derek) So, I just don't want a person

to say, "Well, I guess He has compassion

on the ones," and then pick

a few here and have compassion on them.

As Tricia Lee quoted (I think she's got

another comment to share),
"God so loved..."?

(Team) "...the world."

(Derek) Right. You want to add to that?

(Tricia Lee) When I think about that verse

in Exodus, "I'll have compassion

on whom I'll have compassion,"

" I will be gracious

to whom I will be gracious," I think

about it in the context

of the immediate request that Moses

made to God where he said,

"Show me Your glory."

And we know that no one can see God's face

or His full glory and live, and so I think

that was just God responding and saying,

"Yes, I will be gracious in showing you

who I am, and I will be

compassionate enough to let you survive

this encounter and experience with Me."

I think it was just more God expressing

that in this request, "Show me Your face,

show me Your glory," that He was saying,

"Yes, I can answer and honor

that special request for you, Moses."

(Derek) Well, with such an amazing view -

and, Travis, I want to hear your point -

with such an amazing view

of the character of God loving the world,

why are there so many people

with distorted views

of the character of God?

If you want, make your comment first,

Travis, and then build on that question.

(Travis) So, when I read those verses,

and I read that God would be gracious

to whom He would be gracious,

I immediately thought there are people

in the world that we may see that we

would believe shouldn't be extended grace.

And then I remembered, anyone who calls

on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

And I think the reason that that was

written in there is that we may

in our human minds believe that a person

shouldn't be extended grace.

But God says, "I will have compassion

on whom I will have compassion."

(Derek) Wow, so people that we

may not think deserve...

That could have been us at some point

in our lives, right? Samantha?

(Samantha) To answer your question

about why people have...

(Derek) Distorted views?

(Samantha) Yes, I feel like it's

just what the devil does.

He tries to discredit who God is,

and so he puts the wrong thoughts

of God in peoples' minds.

Instead of having them believe

that, "Okay, yes," he has them think,

"Why would a loving God cause

your family member to die?"

"Why would a loving God cause

your wife to become sick?"

And so, I feel like it just all a part

of that Great Controversy where Satan

tries to discredit who God is.

And people who do not have

that full understanding of Him, it's easy

because if you don't have

that full armor, then you can easily fall

for anything that the devil brings to you.

(Derek) And unfortunately, if you

look, for example...

And I see Gleny's hand and Kylynda's, too,

and Harold; there are lots

of hands raised here.

Unfortunately, if you look

at medieval art, you know, God looks

like a horrible Person, and He's

just trying to torture people,

so it's not just in my imagination.

There have been people teaching

false ideas about the character of God.

I'm going to take the hands,

and we're going to move on.

Kylynda, Gleny and Harold.

(Kylynda) To go off what you said, Derek,

in the end of Luke 11, Jesus

critiques the religious leaders,

and He says, "You know, you're

overburdening people, you're making God

seem like a tyrant that's only concerned

about the smallest external effects,

not the internal transformation."

So some of our perception of God

can, unfortunately, be distorted

by different religious leaders

or religious mentors who portray God

in a way that isn't compassionate,

that isn't relational.

(Derek) False teaching.

Gleny and then Harold.

(Gleny) Yes, I just wanted to support

Kylynda's point, too.

You have your early caregivers,

like maybe even your parents, teachers,

as you had mentioned, people who are

set up to give a representation of God,

a good example of God, but somehow failed.

And that makes you wonder, "If the people

I looked up to had inflicted

and caused so much pain,

then God must be the same, too."

(Derek) Ahh. Harold?

(Harold) And I just want to add,

because, yes, the issue of suffering

and evil are some of the biggest questions

that everybody has, even atheists have.

It's like, how can a loving God reconcile

the suffering that is in the world?

But we cannot forget that our God

also suffered with us.

He is not indifferent to our suffering.

Now, as to why He allows suffering,

many times we do not know,

but He does give us the courage

because He suffered with us,

and He tells us, "I'll be with you.

I will give you the strength

that you'll need to go through this,"

and eventually we'll know the truth.

There is a battle behind the scenes

in the spiritual realm, and God
will give us the answer.

(Derek) Do you know the amount -

and we're going to move on -
but the amount

of interaction right now - and it's

like I said, there are 11 of us

on the team and 14 hands raised -

shows that this is really,

we have an expression in English,

like a hot-button issue.

People are like, "What is

the character of God like?"

We start with a clear revelation

that God is good, He wants

a personal relationship,

He knows us by name,

and He loves the whole world.

Now, before we come back to talk

about how we can show that to the world,

because there is a lot of distortion,

let's think about some stories

in the Bible which show God's love

for people who either ignore

or don't appreciate His love.

Because you said He loves

even the unworthy people, right?

Can anybody think of a story?

Don, can you think of a story?

(Don) This reminds me of the Prodigal Son.

The Prodigal Son when he [told] his dad,

or his father, "Give me my inheritance,"

but the problem was he

squandered it all, right?

But if we compare this to God's love,

God's love is steadfast.

His love remains toward us.

(Derek) But in that same story,

when he does come home,

how does the father respond?

(Don) He accepts him back fully.

(Derek) What does he do?

(Team Member) Throws a feast.

(Derek) He throws his arms around him,

he kisses him on the neck,

he throws a party for him.

And by the way, I don't know about you,

but some people say, "Oh,

terrible Prodigal Son," but the son

that stayed home wasn't very nice,

and yet the father loved him, too, right?

Anybody else, think of a story,

Tricia Lee, a story where it's obvious

that God is showing love

even to the people that may

ignore His love or not welcome His love.

(Tricia Lee) I think

about an Old Testament story,

the story of the people of Nineveh

of this Assyrian Empire.

They were known for being very violent

and cruel, not just to others they

were conquering but also to themselves.

And God sent a prophet to warn them

to correct their ways,

and he traveled over a whole sea,

took a ship to reach them,

But He loved them enough to send them

a warning message and give them

an opportunity to change their ways,

which they did take advantage of.

And I thought that was an act of love.

He didn't just leave them

to just destroy themselves,
or destroy them

without a warning, but He gave them

an opportunity to really realize,

"You can do better; you can live better."

(Derek) So, He shows love to them

even though the prophet Jonah

complained about it, like, "God,

You're really too loving."

It would be easy to talk

about the Ninevites who were very violent,

like Tricia Lee mentioned,

but actually His own people,

the children of Israel,

were very wayward, too.

I want someone to summarize the mission

of the prophet Hosea,

what God asked him to do,

and what was God trying to teach

about the extent of His love?

Anybody want to try a summary? Kylynda.

(Kylynda) Hosea was a prophet

for the children of Israel in a time

when they were often backsliding from God.

So God [told] the prophet, "I want you

to marry a woman that you know

will be unfaithful to you."

(Derek) Ouch!

(Kylynda) Right? Quite harsh, but Hosea

follows God's command.

He marries Gomer,

and what happens, happens.

She has multiple children;

they're not Hosea's.

Hosea gives them names that indicate

this kind of separation

between God and His people,

like a child named "Not My People."

And eventually, even though it's

not quite clear in the Bible, Gomer

falls into slavery; it's implicated

that this [is of] a sexual nature.

And God says, "Go back to her, be faithful
to her even though she's

not faithful to you."

(Derek) Doesn't he have

to actually purchase her back?

(Kylynda) He redeems her from slavery
with money.

(Derek) Is that a picture

of the love of God?

I hope you're listening today,

that God loves us

with an immeasurable and unfailing love.

But just telling that story,

putting ourselves as a spouse,

whether a husband or a wife,

with an unfaithful spouse,

it would be easy for us to say what?

"I'm done. I'm done," right?

(Don) Ready to separate.

(Derek) Right, but God continues,

and you're saying, even when she's

in some kind of enslaved situation.

(Kylynda) Yes, Hosea goes back.

He redeems her; he purchases her debt,

and he loves her, and he says,

"What's past is past.

Now we'll be faithful to each other.

You'll be faithful."

(Derek) So, I'm going to ask James

to take us to that little book of Hosea,

to chapter 14, because there is

a beautiful revelation, again,

as Sophia read with the Exodus revelation,

they had just been dancing naked

around a golden calf and calling it

the god that delivered them.

And here, waywardness typified

by Gomer's behavior, let's see

how the Lord speaks in chapter 14

of Hosea, verses 1 to 4.

(James) Sure, and I'll be reading

from the New King James Version:

(Derek) What do you think

about that immeasurable, unfailing love

of God even with such waywardness?
Sophia?

(Sophia) He's such a forgiving Person.

(Derek) Yeah, forgiving.

(Sophia) Even when He was so angry,

you know, cast them away from Himself.

(Derek) Is it okay to be angry

when things like that happen?

Doesn't Scripture say, "Be angry and..."?

(Harold) Do not sin.

(Derek) "Don't sin," right?

So, there's every reason to be angry.

Actually, not so much angry at the person,

but angry at what sin is doing

to damage someone that you love, right?

"I will heal their backsliding.

I will love them freely." Yes, Puia.

(Puia) A verse like this, Derek,

gives me hope that there is forgiveness

and a new start for everyone.

There may be someone here

listening or among us...

You know, oftentimes we fall,

and we make mistakes, and the guilt

and shame that comes along with it

is too much to bear for us.

But here we see God letting us know

that, "I will heal you.

You can have a new start,

a new beginning," what a hope.

(Derek) I'm going to ask Faith a question.

Faith, did you grow up...

I don't know the answer, by the way,

so there's no right or wrong answer,

but did you grow up with that perspective

of the love of God, that even when we

make terrible choices like Gomer made,

right, like the children of Israel made

at various times, that God was

relentless in His pursuit

of them to love them?

Did you grow up with that kind of picture

of the love of God?

(Faith) Yes, I think that picture

was also shown in my parents.

Obviously they disciplined, but they

taught us, and they continued to pursue us

to steer us in the right direction

and guide us and say, "Oh, this is

the right thing to do,"

and never give up on us.

And I think as I got older,

and now I'm in college, I have

a big community, and I also continue

to read the Bible daily, which allows me

to see that God won't give up.

And it's like Puia was saying,

you have that shame and guilt,

but you've got to make sure you

go directly to God,

and you don't sit in that.

So, yeah, I did grow up

with that picture of God.

(Derek) Thank you so much

for sharing that, Faith.

This leads me to a question,

an interaction question for us,

because Faith said she saw that

revealed in her parents, right?

So, the question I wanted to ask,

and I think this is a good time:

With so many distortions

of the character of God -

and we see God here,

loving freely, relentlessly -

how can we help, Harold,

how can we help people

to see a clearer revelation

of the character of God?

(Harold) Well, in my case, I believe

that you need to meet them

where they're at, reflect God's character.

If they need a companion, be there.

If they need help, provide the help

that they need, because at the end

of the day, we are ambassadors of Christ.

We are to represent Him.

And even Paul says, "The only reason

why the Gentiles blaspheme the name of God

is because of you, of your example,

because you do things, you're hypocrites."

We're all hypocrites; I've been there.

(Derek) ...a personal question, Harold,

because I know you didn't grow up

in a very strong Christian family.

So, who helped you - because some people

have heard a little of your testimony,

it's quite amazing - but who helped you

to see that revelation of a God

who loves freely?

(Harold) Well, it took, after I was

introduced to God, maybe 15 years later.

It was a friend of mine

in Rochester, New York.

I never heard that representation of God

the way she presented it to me.

I mean, she was not perfect, you know,

she had her flaws, yet all these years

I thought God was very demanding,

very vindictive, and I was

always afraid of Him.

But when she said,

"God is very compassionate.

You can talk to Him as a friend,"...

I always had to talk to Him,

like, with this reverence of like,

"Oh, yes, Sir," "No, Sir," but I talk

to Him as a friend.

And I believe that He can forgive.

I did not believe He forgave, before.

Even though I've heard

the message of forgiveness,

I did not believe he actually forgave

because I was too full of sin.

I thought I had to be perfect

before I would present myself...

(Derek) Accepted by Him.

Gleny, I see your hand; how would you

like to add to the discussion?

(Gleny) As a therapist, I had been working

with a client at a residential

depression/anxiety recovery program,

and he was so blown away,

but also simultaneously confused

with the compassion and love

he was experiencing around him.

I remember he mentioned that he

doesn't want to be like the people.

He knew who would get so rigid

and dictatorial when they would read

the Word and understand God, and he said,

"I just don't want to be like that."

And I asked him, like, there are many

of us who understand and read

the Word of God; do you

think that we are the same?

And he said, "Oh, wait, that's right.

You guys are some of the first people

I've met who had a different response,

actually a very positive response

after intentionally learning about God."

So, by their fruits, you shall know them.

And he was drawn to God by the way

we were working with him.

(Derek) So, we're hearing a theme.

Thank you so much, Gleny.

We're hearing a theme that, with all

of the confusion

about the character of God

that followers of God, you said,

could actually be part of the problem.

We could even have false teachers

who are religious teachers, right,

who give a confused picture of God.

Or we can be a living example
of that. Travis.

(Travis) Derek, one of the things

that I've learned about being

a powerful witness for Jesus

is in Acts, chapter 1, verse 8,

It says, "You will receive power

to be my witnesses."

And we're not that smart,

and God will give us the power

to be appropriate witnesses of the gospel.

(Derek) So there is a revelation.

I see Sophia, and then, Tricia Lee,

I see your hand.

(Sophia) Just the distortion

of the character reminded me

of the Puritans in 1600s America.

They came to America to escape

religious persecution,

and right after they made their colony,

they began to persecute

everyone around them

because of their strict
religious standards.

(Derek) To be fair, we might say

some of them began to persecute

those around them because there were

probably some who really did reveal

the love of God, right?

But it's easy for us to fall into that,

that we don't reflect

the immeasurable, unfailing love

of God. Tricia Lee?

(Tricia Lee) There's a Scripture

I'd like to share in Jeremiah,

chapter 32, verses 38 through 40.

(Derek) What translation are
you reading from,?

(Tricia Lee) I'm reading

from the New King James Version,
and it reads:

And "fear" being that loving respect.

I love this Scripture because it

reminds me of this idea of a covenant,

and that that is what God's love is.

And repeatedly in this passage He says,

"I will, I will, I will."

So often in our human experience,

love is like a transaction,

"I'll do this if you do that."

"If you do this,

then I'll always do this."

But God's everlasting love

is a covenant to us,

that, no matter what we do,

He will never stop loving us,

and that He has committed

to what He will do.

And so, there are times where there are

conditional promises and things like that,

but His love is everlasting, and it's

always a promise

of "I will, I will, I will."

And I think that's very different

than how we treat each other.

You know, you don't hear someone

in a marriage ceremony saying,

"I will do these things

only if you do that."

You always state your vows

as what you're committing

to that person, and in a way,

this everlasting covenant is

how God has committed

His unfailing, immeasurable love to us.

(Derek) Thank you

so much for sharing that.

There was a word that Tricia Lee

was repeating over and over again

that leads us into the next part

of our study, and that is

the everlasting love of God.

And I'd like someone to read

John 17 and verse 24.

John 17, Faith, do you have that?

John 17 and verse 24?

Let's see what testimony Jesus gave

regarding the everlasting love of God.

(Faith) And I'll be reading

from the New King James Version,

John 17, verse 24:

(Derek) Alright, so there's a revelation.

You say, "Oh, no, that's

just that the Father loved His Son

before the foundation of the world."

What evidence do you find, anybody,

in the Scriptures that God's love for us

is also everlasting?

It's not bound by time, you know,

kind of like a time clock,

"You've got three years left," right,

or three mistakes left, or something,

but that it's everlasting.

Jesus said, "The Father has loved Me

since before the foundation of the world."

Anybody think of a Bible text?
Yes, Samantha.

(Samantha) Well, I thought

of Romans 8, verses 38 and 39.

(Derek) Okay, give us

a moment to find that.

Romans, chapter 8?

(Samantha) Verses 38 and 39.

(Derek) And the letter

to the Romans was written by?

Anybody? The Apostle Paul, that's right.

So, these are to Christians

living in Rome, and you're reading

verses 38 and 39.

(Samantha) Yes, from the New
King James Version.

(Derek) How does...?

(Samantha) It says:

(Derek) Somebody excited about that?

That's pretty amazing, isn't it?

Nothing can separate us. Puia.

(Puia) So, back to John 17:24

that we read earlier, what I see here

is that before creating the world,

God had already enjoyed

being in a relationship of love.

So, in a sense, God

didn't need to create us.

He didn't owe us this existence, nor love.

So this idea of God loving us freely,

voluntarily, is all an act of sacrifice

in a way, and we don't deserve

this level of love from God.

(Derek) But it's who God is, right?

Isn't there a text that says, "God is..."?

(Derek, Team) "...love."

(Derek) He doesn't just love,

He does love, but He loves because it's...

(Puia) His nature.

(Derek) The very essence

of who He is. Harold?

(Harold) I was going to read...

(Derek) Yes...

(Harold) It's in Lamentations, chapter 3.

(Derek) Lamentations doesn't sound

like a very happy book, does it?

But the prophet Jeremiah has

a beautiful promise there.

Lamentations, chapter 3 and verses?

(Harold) 22 to 24.

(Derek) 22 to 24, my wife

likes to sing this, so how does that read?

What translation are you...?

(Harold) I'll be reading

from the English Standard Version,
and it reads:

(Derek) Beautiful, that's one

of my favorite verses, by the way.

And by the way, the context of that

is not that everything is going perfectly.

What's just happened?

(Harold) The Israelites were
under captivity.

(Derek) They had just been taken
into captivity.

(Harold) To Babylon.

(Derek) That's right, Daniel, Ezekiel,

and all those prophets are there.

Jeremiah is left in Jerusalem.

It's been ransacked, and he's lamenting.

But he says, "Through the Lord's mercies,"

I'm quoting the New King James,

"we are not consumed,

because His compassions fail not."

Thank you for sharing

that text, beautiful. Yes, Don.

(Don) Another unfailing love from God,

if you'll allow me to read Isaiah 54?

(Derek) Give us a chance to find it.

(Don) I'm reading

from the New King James.

(Derek) Hold on just a minute then,

"Eye-ZAY-ah" or "Eye-ZY-uh," chapter 54.

(Don) Verse 10.

(Derek) And verse 10,

and what translation?

(Don) New King James.

(Derek) New King James,

"Eye-ZAY-ah" or "Eye-ZY-uh," 54:10.

(Don) And it says:

(Derek) We could find many texts,

I'm sure, in the Scripture that speak

about the everlasting love of God,

but one of the reasons

that people struggle is because they've

been in a relationship

where love has failed.

And they go, "Well, maybe God's

just like that, too."

"I thought it was

a loving, safe environment."

It may be a family member left,

like a parent or a spouse

or a close relationship,

and it's like it's hard for us

not to think, "Well, maybe God

is that way, too."

Anybody have an experience like that,

yeah, challenged that, but somehow God

made a clear picture that He

would not abandon you that way?

I don't know if anyone can relate to that.

I see a couple of reticent hands going up.

That's a tough question, isn't it,

but could you see how that could...

You know, daddy leaves, and it's like,

"Well, maybe my heavenly Father

is like that, too; maybe some day

He will just stop being there," right?

It's very real, isn't it? Harold?

(Harold) Well, my father, it got

to a point that I stopped

calling him father.

He was a very angry person.

He was a womanizer.

We would go to the park,

and he will tell me, "This will be

your new mom," and I'm like, "Excuse me?"

And I barely saw him, so...

(Derek) It's hard.

(Harold) It did hurt because I

always wanted a father, and I want

to be there for my daughter, too.

Not to mention the family was not good

because my mom also had her problems

growing up, so I did feel alone,

so, oh, I'm sorry.

(James) It's alright, it's alright.
Tell your story.

(Harold) I did feel alone.

I didn't have the family that I wanted

because I didn't have birthdays...

Like, I got very indifferent about things

that people do as a family.

So, I just tried to protect myself

by trying to be indifferent

to these things so I could move on in life

because it's like, you know what, I cannot

allow these things to control me

or to dictate how I should live.

I need to do something.

So I do thank God that He did put people

along the way that started painting

this picture of God and trying to show me

who God really is.

And thankfully my mom,

even with her problems, she did

introduce me to the Bible

at a very young age.

So, I started reading and trying

to understand God from that angle.

So, then eventually, of course, I said,

like my friend from Rochester,

she eventually painted this bigger picture

of God to help me, like, "Oh, wow,

this is who God truly is;

I can call You my Father

because I always wanted a father,

but You are my Father that has been..."

Even though I did suffer, it was painful.

I did go through experiences that you

would think like, "Why would You

allow that, God?"

I mean it was done to me personally.

I mean, I cannot share

because of probably younger children,

but it's like, sure, I did

go through this experience, but I

cannot blame God because I am

in a broken world.

There are so many distortions

of God in the world, but yet we are

accountable for these things.

We are accountable, and we need

to take responsibility.

I cannot always put the blame on God.

But at the end of the day, I do praise God

that I was able to find a loving wife,

my family, and I don't want

to live like that; I really hated it.

I just want to be there for Sophia.

I want to give her a good representation

of who God really is.

(Derek) That's beautiful, Harold.

For those of you who don't know,

Brittany, who is one of our team members

and actually will be teaching one

in this series, but Brittany and Harold

just had a beautiful little girl.

And the name Sophia was mentioned,

so I can repeat it publicly.

And I'm really blessed

by what Harold just shared, and that is,

"I want my little girl to see

a true representation of the character

of our loving heavenly Father," right?

(Harold) Amen.

(Derek) And whether we're a parent

or a friend, right, or a child

to a parent, we want to be

a living representation

of what the loving character

of God looks like.

Whew, that's pretty intense,

but I need to move us on

to the last section,

because let's start again:

How many people does God love?

(Team) Everybody.

(Derek) He loves everyone,

but somehow we have a choice to make

whether we will accept

that intimate relationship

that we studied about.

Let's go to a story that Jesus told

in Matthew 24, verses 1 to 14,

Matthew 22, excuse me, verses 1 to 14,

and let's look; Kylynda, maybe you

could read it for us.

You say, "What has this got to do

with the love of God?"

Well, let's listen, because apparently,

lots of people are invited to a banquet.

So, how does this story

read in your Bible?

(Kylynda) I will be reading

from the New Living Translation:

(Derek) Wow, that's a pretty intense
story.

Why would the king, if he said,

"Go find any," both good and?

(Team) Bad.

(Derek) So that would include us, right?
Praise God.

Don't tell me which one you are,

but we're all saved

by the grace of God, right?

We're saved by the grace of God.

Why would the king be upset

if one person didn't have

a wedding garment on?

The only logical conclusion is?

(Sophia) He needed one.

(Derek) Well, he obviously needed one.

(Don) He needed to be really genuine
or to fully accept the invitation.

(Derek) Who provided the wedding garment?

(Travis) He was unwilling to put it on.

(Derek) He was unwilling

to put on a wedding garment

that was provided!

If he had said, "Well, I didn't have one.

Nobody gave it; I stood

in the wrong line."

He's speechless because he's
without excuse.

He's without excuse.

The wedding garment, that righteousness

which covers us, is a gift of God's grace.

To show up thinking we're okay without it

is a fatal mistake, right?

So, what does this last verse mean

in the story that Kylynda read?

"Many are called, but few are chosen"?

How many is the many who are called? Puia?

(Puia) All.

(Derek) It's everybody; how do you know?

(Harold) Good and bad were...

(Derek) Good and bad, everybody.

Everybody is called.

So, what does it mean?

"Many are called, but..."?

What does it mean, "Few are chosen"?

(Samantha) Only those who accept

that invitation and decide

to receive God's grace will be able

to enter into the Kingdom,
will be chosen to enter.

(Derek) ...sounds like poor English,

but those who choose to be chosen, right?

Who wants to be chosen? Right?

Everyone is given the invitation.

The garment is provided.

Some people don't even want

to come, right?

In fact, most of the people

don't want to come.

But then some show up

without putting on the garment.

We have a choice to make. Travis?

(Travis) Interestingly, Jesus

starts out the beatitudes

in Matthew, chapter 5, verse 3,

[by saying], "Blessed are

the poor in spirit," those who realize

their brokenness, "for theirs is

the Kingdom of Heaven."

(Derek) Praise God.

So, I'm going to have you do

a little computer scan.

I want our remotes to be engaged here,

I'm going to ask you to be involved
in that.

Can you think of someone

who received an unexpected invitation

to be part of the banquet -

which means to be part

of God's eternal kingdom, and experience

His immeasurable, unfailing love forever -

someone who received

an unexpected invitation and accepted it?!

Someone share a story with me,

unexpected invitation

and accepted it. Yes, Puia.

(Puia) It reminds me of Zacchaeus.

(Derek) Okay, Zacchaeus,

you don't need to read the story,

but tell us; Zacchaeus was a...?

(Puia) Tax collector.

(Derek) Very wealthy.

(Puia) And he probably didn't expect Jesus

to even know his name or invite him,

or, you know, dine with him.

That story just came into my mind.

(Derek) So, Luke 19, great story,

"I'm going to eat at your house today,

but more than that, salvation comes

to this house today," right,
amazing story.

Someone else, an unexpected invitation.

I see Tricia Lee's hand raised.
Tricia Lee?

(Tricia Lee) Yes, I think

about the thief on the cross.

He is guilty, and he is in the midst

of being punished for his crime or crimes,

and God extends salvation to him.

He has no chance to come down and live

a reformed life or do good things.

It is simply the faith, grace, and mercy

of God because we believe and know

that He is saved still hanging
on that cross.

(Derek) Beautiful. Wow, that's

an amazing one.

I see Gleny's hand raised, too.

Gleny, somebody else that received

an unexpected invitation to be part

of this banquet which symbolizes

the Kingdom and said, "Yes!"

(Gleny) There's Matthew, who was

a very bad candidate for being a disciple

of Christ's because he was hated

as a tax collector, but he accepted

the invitation to follow Christ.

(Derek) Yeah, I hope that Matthew

and Zacchaeus got to be good friends,

you know, both tax collectors. Sophia.

(Sophia) Paul.

(Derek) Saul of Tarsus, what was he doing

before he accepted the invitation?

(Sophia) Persecuting Christians,
killing them.

(Derek) Persecuting Christians!

Killing people, forcing them to blaspheme

the name of Jesus!

And he gets an invitation.

Where was he when he got the invitation?

On the Damascus road, and when he

got to Damascus, he gets the invitation,

and he says, "Yes."

Now, tragically, I wish we

could just end there,

but remember there's a choice.

So, someone, you're watching,

and you're going, "But you're saying

people could say no.

Maybe everybody will be saved."

Can you think of someone who received

a surprise invitation and said no?

(Samantha) The rich young ruler.

(Derek) Alright, Samantha mentioned

the rich young ruler who Jesus says,

"Get rid of the stuff

that's getting in the way and follow Me,"

and he walked away.

Anybody else? Yes, Harold.

(Harold) Judas Iscariot, unfortunately.

(Derek) After being one

of the close team members of Jesus,

Judas Iscariot rejected the invitation.

And, of course,

there's a shocking realization

that when we walk away

from the love of God,

there is no hope, there really isn't.

And tragically, he hangs himself.

But the love of God gives us

a reason to live.

What's the most important lesson

you've learned in our study today?

We've got a few seconds to wrap up.

Most important lesson, anybody. Puia.

(Puia) God is faithful even when we

are not faithful.

(Derek) But we can then choose...

(Puia) To be faithful.

(Derek) ...and to receive His love.
Yes, Samantha.

(Samantha) God's love knows no bounds.

(Derek) It knows no bounds.

What's its only limit?

(James) Us.

(Derek) Us, that's right, James.

I want to appeal to you.

We're starting a series

on God's Love and Justice.

I want to testify by the Word of God

that Jesus loves you.

He came to reveal the Father's love

who has loved you

since the foundation of the world.

And He wants you to experience

an intimate relationship with Him,

to spend forever with Him.

You say, "Derek, you don't know

the things I've done."

It doesn't matter what you've done;

He can cleanse you, forgive you

of your sin, and give you

the gift of eternal life.

I want to appeal to you

to accept His love today.

You say, "Derek, I did that long ago."

Then, would you tell someone around you?

Would you tell someone who needs to know

really what God is like?

Let's pray together.

Father in Heaven,

we're just starting this journey,

studying about Your love and justice.

And I pray that Your Holy Spirit

would give supernatural revelation,

even as a result of this study,

of Your beautiful character of love,

that You will never stop loving us.

May we open our hearts to receive

Your love, even today.

In Jesus' name. Amen.

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) Thanks for joining us

for Hope Sabbath School.

This is going to be an amazing journey.

You say, "Derek, it's going to change

my picture of God." Praise God!

See God for the awesome loving God

that He really is.

And, friend, don't keep

that good news to yourself.

Go out and be a blessing

to those around you.

♪ theme music ♪