Participants:
Series Code: IIWSS
Program Code: IIWSS023043S
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00:12 (music ends) 00:15 >>Welcome to "Sabbath School," 00:17 brought to you by It Is Written. 00:20 We're excited this week to be studying another lesson 00:23 as we're looking at God's mission and my mission. 00:25 This week we are looking at lesson number four. 00:28 Lesson number four is all about "Sharing God's Mission," 00:32 and we're excited to dig into it. 00:34 But before we do, let's begin with prayer. 00:37 Father, we want to ask that You'll be with us today 00:39 as we take a look at how we can be more fully involved 00:42 in Your mission. We ask that You'll bless our time together, 00:45 and we thank You in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:49 Well, we're blessed this week to have with us Amy Whitsett. 00:52 She is an associate director 00:53 of the Institute of World Mission. 00:56 Amy, thanks for joining us. >>Thanks for having me. 00:58 >>Now, Amy, tell us a little bit about 01:00 what is it to be an associate director 01:02 of the Institute of World Mission? 01:04 What is the Institute of World Mission? 01:06 How does that kind of all fit into 01:07 what we're talking about this quarter? 01:09 >>The Institute of World Mission was established 01:12 in the 1960s 01:13 to train all of the General Conference missionaries 01:15 that are sent out. So, as you know, 01:17 we have missionaries from everywhere to everywhere. 01:20 And when you have that, then you have cross-cultural issues 01:22 that you may not be familiar with. 01:24 And so we help the families get ready for transition. 01:28 We help them deal with issues of educating their children. 01:32 How do you find a good school? 01:33 Language learning, settling in, 01:34 but then also all of that cross-cultural stuff-- 01:36 how do different people think? 01:38 How do different people see the world? 01:40 And just to help them to be more effective missionaries 01:43 wherever they go. >>Well, fantastic. 01:45 Well, we're excited to have you bring your expertise 01:48 in that area. You've served as a missionary, 01:50 you've trained missionaries, 01:51 and we're looking this week at "Sharing God's Mission," 01:54 and especially with respect to Abraham. 01:57 So we're kind of spending some time 01:58 in the story of Abraham here. 02:01 What are some of the traits that we see in Abraham 02:04 that would serve us as missionaries 02:06 when we're seeking to reach others, 02:09 to reach the world around us? 02:10 What do we see in Abraham's life? 02:12 >>I really like looking at Genesis, chapter 18, 02:16 the story just before Sodom and Gomorrah, 02:19 and from that story itself, 02:21 we can get three real lessons or traits from Abraham. 02:25 The first is he was hospitable. 02:28 He showed hospitality to strangers. 02:31 He also loved people, and he prayed for people. 02:35 He interceded for them. 02:36 And so this lesson delves into all three of those. 02:39 What does that look like? 02:40 And how can we apply that in our lives today? 02:44 >>All right, so we've got Abraham. He's very hospitable. 02:47 What were some ways that we see that hospitality manifest 02:50 in the way that he lived and dealt with people, 02:53 interacted with people? 02:54 >>Yeah. So if we go to Genesis, chapter 18, 02:59 if we look at the first four verses--I'll just read them. 03:02 "Then the Lord appeared to him 03:04 "by the terebinth [tree] of Mamre, as he was sitting 03:07 "in the tent door [of] the heat of the day. 03:10 "So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, 03:12 "three men were standing by him; 03:14 "and when he saw them, 03:15 "he ran from the tent door to meet them, 03:17 "and bowed himself to the ground, and [he] said, 03:20 "'My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, 03:22 "'[don't] pass...by Your servant. 03:24 "'Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, 03:27 and rest yourselves under the tree.'" 03:29 And so he's actually--I mean, 03:31 this is such a beautiful picture for me 03:32 that Abraham was resting, but he was watching. 03:37 He was aware of what was going on around him. 03:41 And when he saw these three travelers, 03:43 three strangers coming through, 03:44 he recognized they had a need. 03:47 It's hot, the heat of the day, right? 03:49 They're hot, they're sweaty, they're tired, 03:51 they may even be hungry, 03:53 and he didn't just wait for them to come to him. 03:55 He went to them, and he said, 03:57 "Would you come and rest under the terebinth tree? 04:00 "Just have a break. 04:02 Wash your feet, wash your hands, wash your face, be rested," 04:04 and then later on in the chapter, 04:06 we see he actually prepares a meal for them, 04:07 and he takes care of them. 04:09 And so this idea of hospitality 04:11 is not just being hospitable to those who come to us, 04:14 but being hospitable to those who don't come to us, 04:18 that we're actually watching 04:20 for the needs of people around us 04:21 and that we recognize opportunities to help, 04:23 and that we're willing to help, 04:25 that we're ready to help when people are needing it. 04:27 And it's really interesting to me, too, 04:29 that he provided for their physical needs. 04:33 It wasn't, you know, 04:34 "Come, let's have a spiritual conversation. 04:35 "I'm a God follower, and God called me. 04:37 Let me tell you the story." It was, "Come and rest. 04:42 "Come just be part of my home, be part of my community 04:45 for a little bit, and rest and be refreshed." 04:48 And I think that's really a powerful thing. 04:51 You know, there's a lot of studies now, 04:52 especially after COVID, 04:54 that people are dealing with a lot of mental illness, 04:57 a lot of depression, a lot of loneliness. 04:59 Even though we've all got these smartphones, 05:00 and we're more connected-- 05:02 we hear this all the time: more connected but more distant. 05:05 People are lonely, 05:06 and they want to have a sense of belonging. 05:08 And if we can show hospitality to them by bringing them in, 05:12 I think that's a great mission opportunity 05:15 and a great place to start. 05:16 >>And there are lots of people out there. 05:19 Now, what if somebody says, 05:20 "Well, in theory, that sounds great, 05:22 but bringing people into my house?" 05:26 You know, maybe my house isn't the cleanest. 05:28 Maybe I don't live in the best part of town. 05:31 Maybe I just, maybe I'm not a people person. 05:34 I'm playing the devil's advocate here, 05:36 all the excuses, kinda like Moses was good at making excuses 05:40 why he couldn't do what God told him to do. 05:42 What would you tell somebody who's like, 05:44 yeah, I see what Abraham did, 05:46 but, ah! Bringing somebody into my house? 05:49 I'm not real sure about that. 05:50 >>You know, what's interesting to me is that 05:52 Abraham brought them to the tree. 05:54 He didn't say, "Come into my tent." "Come to my tree," 05:58 and this kind of troubled me for a little bit 06:01 because I thought, well, is that really hospitality? 06:03 When I was young, 06:05 my family would always have people over Sabbath afternoon. 06:07 If we didn't have somebody over Sabbath afternoon, 06:09 it was 'cause one of us was sick, you know? 06:11 So having people to my home, it's a natural thing for me. 06:15 But I understand for other people it's not. 06:18 And this idea of bringing people to a tree, 06:20 I think there's a couple things going on. 06:23 One, we don't have to necessarily bring them to our home, 06:27 but just bring them into our sphere of influence. 06:30 You could even just take them to a neutral place 06:32 if you don't want them to come into your home. 06:34 Go to a quiet restaurant; meet them in a park; 06:37 go for a walk together. 06:38 There's plenty of ways that you can invite people. 06:40 But I think what's really interesting to me 06:43 and something that I learned living overseas 06:45 is that we have a great opportunity 06:48 to influence the spiritual atmosphere in our homes. 06:53 And in a world where there's so much chaos, 06:56 to bring them into a place 06:58 that's filled with the peace of the Holy Spirit 07:00 is a really special and powerful thing. 07:03 And so I would encourage people, 07:05 bring them to your home if you can, but if you can't, 07:08 pray over the place where you will take them 07:09 and pray that the Holy Spirit's presence will be there 07:11 at the table that you're sitting at, 07:13 in the park bench that you're sitting at, 07:15 that the Holy Spirit will be present, 07:17 and that you're controlling the spiritual atmosphere 07:19 where you're at. 07:20 >>So Abraham invites them to come to the tree. 07:23 How does that hospitality manifest itself? 07:25 You've touched on a few things. 07:26 He said, "Come out of the heat." 07:28 There's a little bit of shade there perhaps. 07:30 He's providing some for their sustenance. 07:35 What else does this look like 07:36 as Abraham is reaching out to these individuals? 07:42 >>You know, it's interesting. 07:43 Ellen White talks about this, and she says in "Education" 07:48 that when Abraham's "tent was removed, 07:51 "the altar [always] remained; 07:53 "and [that] many...roving Canaanite[s], 07:56 "whose knowledge of God had been gained 07:58 from the life of Abraham His servant," 08:00 they stopped at the altar. 08:02 They "tarried at [the] altar to offer sacrifice to Jehovah." 08:05 His love for God, his passion for God, 08:08 the way that he kept his home, 08:09 and the way that he ran his family, 08:12 I think was a great indication of God's love 08:15 and God's presence in his life and made an impact on people 08:19 that he didn't even realize he was making an impact on. 08:21 And I think that's something that we take for granted 08:23 is that people are watching us. 08:25 What does it look like to be a true follower of God? 08:28 What does it look like to believe in God 08:31 and to trust in God? 08:32 You know, a lot of times people have a misconception 08:34 that a Christian's life should be perfect 08:37 without any problem, 08:39 but people can't relate to people with no problems. 08:41 We all know that we have problems. 08:43 It's not about not having problems. 08:45 It's about having the grace to live through the problems, 08:49 getting the grace and the strength that we need from God 08:53 and the peace to go through the problems, 08:55 to manage the conflicts. That's what draws people. 08:58 >>So we may not be able to have this memorial that we leave 09:03 as Abraham left a memorial and moved on to different places. 09:06 What would be a more modern version of that 09:10 that we could strive for, 09:13 that we could hope to have that same sort of an impact? 09:17 >>For me, I think it would come in the form 09:20 of, like, family routine and family ritual. 09:23 I remember when we were living in Asia, 09:25 we had a man who was working as a gardener for us. 09:28 And he came to me one day, and he said, "Amy, guess what? 09:30 We pray and sing and read the Bible before every meal." 09:33 I said, "That's great." 09:35 And he's like, "Yeah, we do it just like you do." 09:36 And I thought, we don't do that at every meal. 09:39 (laughing) What is he talking about? 09:41 And then I realized, you know, every breakfast, 09:43 when our children were young, we had a devotional book 09:45 that we would read from every morning. 09:47 So we'd read, we would pray, and then we would eat. 09:51 And then in the evening after the baths, 09:53 we'd sit on the couch, and we would sing, 09:55 and we would read a Bible story, and we would pray, 09:57 and the kids would go to bed. 09:58 And somehow he interpreted this 10:00 as this is what it means to be a Christian, 10:02 and he started doing that. So that was a family altar. 10:06 That was something that we've left behind 10:09 that he was able to see and he's patterning, and guess what? 10:13 Other people are watching him. 10:15 It's a memorial that's living on even past us. 10:18 Even though it's not a physical memorial, 10:19 it is--the routine is a memorial itself. 10:24 >>It made an impact. 10:25 It was something that was observed, experienced, 10:29 and then that experience molded 10:31 and shaped their own experience. And then as you mentioned, 10:35 it goes on and on and on, the way that it should be. 10:37 >>Right. >>So Abraham expressed 10:41 his care for others through his hospitality. 10:44 How else did he express his care for others, 10:47 his care of others? 10:49 >>It was really expressed in his love for people. 10:52 And we see this both for the travelers that came 10:56 but then also in his pleading for Sodom and Gomorrah. 11:00 And I don't think that he pled for Sodom and Gomorrah 11:02 just because his nephew and nephew's family were there. 11:04 I think he really did have God's love in his heart 11:08 for the people that he didn't even know. 11:10 >>So a picture of him and Sodom and Gomorrah, 11:12 a picture of him 11:14 with these travelers who came by, strangers. 11:18 We talked about having people in our home, but-- 11:20 and we might even be a little hesitant 11:22 to have friends or acquaintances in our home, 11:25 but what about strangers? 11:27 I mean, these were just some individuals who happened by, 11:30 and Abraham reached out to them, 11:33 the people in Sodom and Gomorrah, largely strangers for him, 11:37 except for a select few, you know, family. 11:40 But what about strangers? And maybe that may make us, 11:44 especially living in this day and age, 11:46 we tend to be a little more insulated 11:49 and distrustful of those we don't know. 11:52 >>And rightly so, rightly so. 11:55 There are stories that are true, (laughs) you know, 11:56 so we do need to be careful. We need to be wary. 11:59 But again, just being, I don't know, 12:02 making eye contact with people, 12:05 saying a nice, pleasant word to somebody 12:07 at the grocery store, you know, you never know. 12:09 We often hear these stories 12:11 or they pop up on Facebook or YouTube or something 12:13 of these stories of little things that people have done 12:16 that made a big impact. 12:18 And the key for this is being in touch with God, 12:21 being in tune with God. You know, a lot of people ask, 12:25 "Why have devotions every day? What's the point? 12:28 I don't get anything from reading my Bible or whatever." 12:30 The point is, is to be like a radio 12:35 where you're tuning in just right, 12:37 you know, the old-fashioned radio. 12:38 We don't have them now so much, 12:39 but the old ones with the dial where you had to tune in 12:42 and, you know, get away from as much of that fuzz and static 12:44 as you can to get the clearest signal, right? 12:47 That's what our devotional time does, 12:48 the prayer and the Bible reading, 12:50 to get us in touch with God's voice so that we can hear Him. 12:54 And when we're at the grocery store in line, 12:56 and we feel the tap on our shoulder of God saying, 12:58 "Say something to this person," 13:00 that we're ready and we're willing and we're able. 13:03 And I think that sometimes we're afraid to do that. 13:07 We're afraid of making a fool of ourself. 13:10 We're afraid of maybe doing something 13:12 that might offend somebody 13:13 or make them feel like we're a little bit weird. 13:16 But I would guess that nine times out of 10, 13:18 that's not gonna happen. 13:19 We need to get over that fear hump and just do it. 13:23 If God tells you to do something, just do it. 13:25 >>If God's leading, there's 13:26 nothing for us to fear. >>That's right. 13:27 >>Yeah. >>That's right. 13:29 >>Well, we are taking a look this week 13:31 at "Sharing God's Mission." 13:32 He has something that He desires us to do 13:35 and people that He desires us to reach. 13:37 If you're enjoying this week's lesson 13:38 and all of the lessons that we're looking at this quarter, 13:41 then you want to make sure that you pick up 13:43 the companion book to this quarter's lesson. 13:46 It is "God's Mission My Mission," 13:48 and you can find it at itiswritten.shop. 13:51 This gives you more insight, more depth, more stories, 13:55 more examples of how God is very much at work 13:58 in the lives of people just like you 14:00 in sharing the gospel with others who need to hear it. 14:03 Again, you can find "God's Mission My Mission" 14:05 at itiswritten.shop. 14:08 We're going to be back again in just a moment 14:10 as Amy and I continue looking at the story of Abraham. 14:14 We'll see you back in just a moment. 14:16 (uplifting theme music swells and ends) 14:20 >>[John Bradshaw] There might be days when you just 14:22 can't seem to find the energy to take on life's challenges, 14:25 moments or maybe days or weeks 14:27 where basic tasks can feel overwhelming, 14:30 times when you feel as though 14:31 your heart and mind are trapped in a fog. 14:35 Countless people all around the world 14:37 are dealing with the weight of depression. 14:39 Most people will experience depression either firsthand 14:43 or in the lives of friends or family members. 14:46 There's hardly a person on earth 14:48 who hasn't in some way been touched by its weight. 14:51 That's why I sat down with a mental health expert 14:54 to discuss this vitally important subject. 14:56 Join me and Dr. Neil Nedley 14:58 as together we explore what actually works 15:01 in helping battle depression, 15:03 its root causes, and its symptoms. 15:05 Don't miss the helpful and practical information 15:07 in this series proven to benefit 15:09 physical, mental, and emotional health. 15:11 "Clearing the Fog," 15:13 available now on It Is Written TV. 15:20 You know that at It Is Written 15:22 we are serious about studying the Word of God, 15:24 and we encourage you to be serious as well. 15:27 Well, here's what you do 15:28 if you want to dig deeper into God's Word. 15:30 Go to itiswritten.study 15:32 for the It Is Written Bible Study Guides online, 15:35 25 in-depth Bible studies that will take you through 15:38 the major teachings of the Bible. 15:40 You'll be blessed, 15:42 and it's something you'll want to tell others about as well: 15:44 itiswritten.study. 15:45 Go further: itiswritten.study. 15:50 (uplifting theme music) 15:54 >>[Eric] Welcome back to "Sabbath School," 15:56 brought to you by It Is Written. 15:58 We're taking a look at how we can more effectively 16:00 share our faith with others, 16:02 looking at "Sharing God's Mission." 16:05 Amy, we were just talking about how some people 16:08 feel a little uncomfortable 16:10 when they're called to reach out to and love strangers. 16:13 What are some of those obstacles 16:15 that people often have to overcome 16:17 in order to get to that point? 16:19 >>Yeah. We had mentioned before 16:21 that one of those obstacles is fear 16:23 that maybe I'll make a fool of myself 16:24 or they'll think I'm weird, 16:26 or even worse yet, that I'll say something 16:28 that turns them off to the gospel completely, right? 16:30 I think we're sometimes closed-- 16:31 that we're gonna close the door before it's really time. 16:34 But, you know, there's another issue, 16:36 and that is sometimes this idea of love. 16:38 Unfortunately, English only has one word, right? 16:41 And it can mean all kinds of things, 16:43 that there's a whole spectrum of what love can be. 16:45 And so I like to think of it more as compassion, 16:48 that we need to have compassion for people. 16:51 And I believe that Abraham could love people 16:54 because he realized that as long as somebody's breathing, 16:56 they have a chance for the Holy Spirit to impact them. 16:59 And that's what I want to be like. 17:01 I want to see people with that perspective, 17:03 thinking if they're still alive, they're still breathing, 17:06 it doesn't matter what shape or form they're in, 17:09 there's still opportunity 17:10 for the Holy Spirit to do something. 17:11 And I want to be a conduit for that. How can I be a conduit 17:15 for the Holy Spirit to work in their life? 17:17 And so it's looking at it through a compassionate lens. 17:20 And we see this in the life of Jesus. 17:22 You know, there's several Bible texts. 17:24 There's a couple in Matthew, Matthew 14:14 and 15:32, 17:28 where the Bible says, Matthew records 17:30 Jesus looked on the crowds and had compassion for them. 17:34 You know, one of them was they needed healing, 17:37 and so He provided that healing. 17:38 Another one was that they were hungry, 17:40 and He provided them food. But I think that my favorite one 17:43 is actually in Matthew 9:36, 17:46 where it says He looked at them with compassion 17:48 because they were people without a shepherd 17:50 or sheep without a shepherd. 17:52 You know, what does a shepherd do? 17:54 A shepherd guides; a shepherd protects; 17:56 a shepherd provides everything for them. 17:58 A shepherd heals, comforts. They were without that. 18:02 And if we can look at people in that way, 18:05 as sheep without a shepherd, 18:07 they need guidance, they need direction, 18:09 they need comfort, they need companionship, 18:12 and there's little things that people need 18:14 that are physical needs, that are emotional needs, 18:17 even before the spiritual needs that can provide, 18:20 if we can help provide those, it can give an opportunity 18:23 to provide spiritual care as well. 18:25 >>So it opens that door to the spiritual areas 18:28 that we might not otherwise have the same access to. 18:32 >>Exactly. >>There's a quote 18:33 that you have referenced here 18:35 in a book called "Patriarchs and Prophets." 18:37 Would you like to share that quote? 18:38 >>Yes. Ellen White says, 18:40 and this is from "Patriarchs and Prophets," 18:42 page 133 and 134: 18:44 "Abraham was honored by the surrounding nations 18:47 "as a mighty prince and a wise and able chief. 18:50 "He did not shut away his influence from his neighbors. 18:53 "His life and character, in their marked contrast 18:56 "with those of the worshipers of idols, 18:58 "exerted a telling influence in favor of the true faith. 19:02 "His allegiance to God was unswerving, 19:05 "while his affability and benevolence 19:07 "inspired confidence and friendship 19:09 and his unaffected greatness commanded respect and honor." 19:13 >>A powerful statement to his effectiveness. 19:15 >>It is. It is. And that affability, you know, 19:18 we were talking about this earlier 19:20 (laughing) before we started filming, 19:21 that the English language is difficult sometimes, 19:25 and there's words that we think we understand, 19:27 but then when you think about it, you realize, 19:28 I really don't know what that is. 19:30 And "affability" was one of those for me, 19:31 and I looked it up. And affability is just likableness, 19:35 you know, that he was just likable, he was friendly, 19:39 it doesn't necessarily mean he was outgoing, 19:41 not everybody's outgoing, 19:43 but just open and friendly with people. 19:45 >>A likable person. >>Yes. 19:47 >>And one would hope that that would be a characteristic 19:49 that many Christians would also share. 19:51 >>I would hope so. >>Yep. 19:52 Yeah, there's an interesting Bible verse here, Matthew 5, 19:56 verse 16 that says, "Let your light so shine before men, 20:00 "that they may see your good works 20:02 and glorify your Father in heaven." 20:04 >>Mm-hmm. >>A powerful passage, 20:06 of course, from the Sermon on the Mount 20:08 and just a beautiful picture 20:09 of what Jesus' desire for us is. 20:12 >>Right. >>Yeah. 20:13 >>That's right. >>So we're looking 20:14 at the story of Abraham. Abraham was hospitable. 20:18 He was a loving individual. 20:20 What other characteristics or character traits did he have 20:23 that made him effective? 20:25 >>The other thing that we see in him 20:26 is that he was an intercessor. In today's language, 20:29 we would say he was a prayer warrior, right? 20:32 And we see this in his interaction about Sodom and Gomorrah, 20:37 you know--"If there's 50, oh, wait, no, if there's 45, 20:40 no, if there's 40"--all the way down to, "If there's 10," 20:43 you know, he was putting himself on the line 20:46 for Sodom and Gomorrah, especially when you realize 20:49 that he knew who he was talking to at that point, right? 20:52 And he even admits, you know, "Please forgive your servant, 20:55 but if there's only 10"-- 20:58 he was bold, and he was confident, 21:00 but because he knew what God's character really was, 21:04 that God's character really was hopeful 21:06 that there would be 10, 21:08 that there would be those who wanted to be saved, 21:10 that there would be those that were open. 21:13 The lesson actually points out 21:14 that this was a type of Christ in his intercession. 21:18 And Peter actually says that He calls us a royal priesthood, 21:22 and what did the priests do? 21:24 The priests were intercessors between the people and God. 21:29 And if we are a royal priesthood, 21:31 we're called to be priests, 21:32 to be intercessors between something or someone and God, 21:35 and who is that something or someone? 21:37 It's the lost. It's those who don't know Him. 21:40 And so we're called to intercede on their behalf. 21:42 And I don't know what it is about intercessory prayer, 21:45 I wish that I understood more about it, 21:49 but there's a power to intercessory prayer 21:51 that we don't understand. 21:52 There's certain rules of engagement 21:55 between God and His angels 21:59 and Satan and his evil host 22:02 that intercession has a strong role in. 22:05 And I don't know if it's granting God permission 22:08 to work in people's lives or what it is, 22:10 but there's a power there that we can access. 22:13 And it unleashes spiritual power in people's lives. 22:17 And so I think we need to take our role as intercessors 22:20 very seriously. We need to be praying for people. 22:23 >>It tilts that needle in the direction 22:27 that God would desire for each and every person. 22:30 And we have an opportunity, 22:31 a privilege to be a part of that. 22:34 >>Yes. >>And that's very powerful. 22:37 You're speaking of intercession. 22:38 What does intercession look like in practical terms? 22:43 >>It's praying for people, and it's praying with people. 22:47 The question is, what do we pray for? 22:48 When we were in Asia, 22:50 I was teaching Sabbath school to the children, 22:53 and I realized, you know, this one hour in Sabbath school 22:56 is really the only Bible education, 22:59 spiritual guidance that these kids get. 23:00 They didn't have the Sabbath school lesson quarterly 23:03 that they could take home and do every week, you know, 23:05 or every day. And so I was thinking, 23:07 how do I lead these children into a relationship with God? 23:10 What does that look like? What stories do I need to tell? 23:13 What activities? And I realized it's through prayer, 23:16 that we need to be praying with the children 23:18 so that they can see God working in their life. 23:21 And so I thought, well, we need to start at home. 23:23 So I got a prayer journal, and we started praying. 23:25 You know, "What should we pray for tonight?" 23:26 "Well, let's pray for Grandpa." 23:27 "Okay, let's pray for Grandpa." 23:29 "Let's pray for Grandma." "Okay, let's pray for Grandma." 23:32 And I got stickers. You know, 23:33 "We're gonna put stickers by each one 23:34 as we see them answered." 23:36 And we weren't getting very many stickers in there. 23:38 And I thought, why are we not getting stickers? 23:40 Why are we not seeing our prayers answered? 23:42 And I realized we were praying very generic prayers. 23:45 How do you measure God being with Grandpa? 23:48 You can't measure that. But you can measure "Grandpa's sick. 23:51 Help him to get better." 23:53 You can measure "Help the neighbor's cat to come back home," 23:58 you know, if the cat's lost or something. 24:00 We need to be really specific with our prayers 24:02 so that we can see when God has answered. 24:04 And as we pray those kinds of prayers, it will encourage us, 24:09 it will deepen our faith, 24:11 but we need to also be praying those kinds of prayers 24:13 for people with people. 24:15 You'd be surprised at how many people are open to prayer. 24:18 Even though they're not spiritual, 24:19 they don't claim to be spiritual, they're still, 24:21 when they're in a crisis especially, 24:22 they're open to anything, anything that'll help, please. 24:25 So if we can pray a specific prayer 24:27 and allow God to use that, invite God into that space, 24:31 you know, if you look at the stories of Jesus, 24:33 He was where the problems were. 24:35 He was where the pain and hurt was. 24:37 That's where He could work. That's where He could minister. 24:39 That's where there was an open door and open heart. 24:42 And so if we can see people around us who are suffering 24:45 and have our eyes and antennas, you know, 24:48 tuned in to the needs of people around us 24:50 and praying God into those spaces, 24:53 what God could do would be amazing. 24:56 >>And in order to do that, 24:57 we've gotta be out there mingling with people, 25:00 meeting people to know what their needs are, 25:02 to know what to lift up in prayer. 25:04 Amy, let me ask you, as we're kind of tying this together, 25:07 what are some mission takeaways 25:09 that we can get from Abraham's story? 25:12 Some things that we can say, "Okay, I can grab ahold 25:14 "of that. That's something that I can do, I can believe, 25:17 I can put into practice in my life." 25:19 >>First of all, and I said this earlier, 25:21 we need to be in tune with God's voice, that we need to be-- 25:26 you know, we talk about the wind, you know, the Holy Spirit. 25:28 You can't see the Holy Spirit. 25:30 Like, it's like the wind. You can see its effect. 25:32 So be in tune with 25:33 where is the Holy Spirit working around us? 25:35 Whose lives is He impacting? Whose heart is He knocking on? 25:40 And if we're in tune with that, God will reveal it to us. 25:43 If we're in tune with Him, He'll reveal it to us. 25:45 So that's the first thing, having daily time with God 25:48 to get our ears and spiritual antennas tuned to His voice. 25:52 And then we also need to be taking stock 25:54 of how we're appearing to people around us. 25:56 Are we affable people like Abraham was? 25:59 You know, are we kind people? 26:00 Do we have just a peace about us that attracts people to us? 26:03 Or are we just about business? 26:05 We need to be representing the kingdom that we're a part of. 26:08 We need to be aware of the people around us. 26:10 You know, so it's making sure that I'm right spiritually, 26:12 I'm in tune spiritually, I'm in tune with God, 26:15 but now I need to make sure I'm in tune 26:16 with those around me, too, and that I have the time, 26:19 that I'm not just rushing, rushing, rushing all the time, 26:22 that I build a little extra buffer time 26:24 in whatever time I set aside for grocery shopping 26:28 or whatever errands I need to do, 26:29 where I'm interacting with people 26:32 so that I can interact with them 26:34 and I can have meaningful experiences. 26:36 And then we need to respond. 26:38 And this is sometimes a scary thing, right? 26:40 We talked about that earlier, this fear of, you know, 26:43 doing something that's gonna turn somebody off 26:44 or we'll look like a fool, or, you know-- 26:49 we need to pray for boldness. Pray for courage. 26:52 I pray for that every day. 26:53 God, please help me to hear Your voice. 26:55 And then please, please, please help me have courage 26:57 to do what You tell me to do. (laughs) 26:59 As much as I may not want to or as afraid I may be, 27:02 give me the courage to just do it 27:03 and then just step out in faith and see what God does, 27:06 and then that will build our faith. And then finally, 27:10 we need to be inviting people into our community. 27:12 Whether it's a community of faith, 27:14 whether it's into our home, 27:15 whether it's just into our friend group, 27:18 inviting people into our community 27:19 where they can experience love, 27:21 they can experience acceptance, and most importantly, 27:24 they can experience the peace and the impact 27:27 of the Holy Spirit on their life. 27:29 >>Very practical advice drawn from the story of Abraham. 27:33 Amy, thank you for sharing that with us today. 27:35 And thank you for joining us today. 27:37 We look forward to seeing you again next week 27:40 as we continue our journey 27:41 of the mission that God has for us 27:44 and how we play a big part in that mission. 27:47 God bless you. We'll see you next time on "Sabbath School," 27:49 brought to you by It Is Written. 27:51 (uplifting theme music) 28:26 (music ends) |
Revised 2023-10-18