Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW210018S
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00:02 I want to spend my life
00:08 Mending broken people 00:13 I want to spend my life 00:19 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:35 I want to spend my life 00:41 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:09 Hello and welcome to another 3ABN Family Worship. 01:13 I'm Jill Morikone. 01:15 And I love this time together 01:16 because we're opening the Sabbath. 01:18 We bring in the Sabbath, spend time together 01:20 as brothers and sisters around the table. 01:23 And with you at home, we open up the Word of God. 01:26 We pray together. 01:28 And I just love this time. 01:29 I love worship and I love family. 01:31 And you certainly are a part of the 3ABN family. 01:35 So just thank you. 01:36 Thank you for your love and your prayers 01:38 and financial support of this ministry 01:41 as we endeavor to take this gospel to the world. 01:43 Usually when we're having family worship, 01:46 Greg sitting right here and he does the introduction, 01:48 and then I kind of add a few things, 01:50 but tonight we have the ladies around the table, 01:54 but that means that the topic works for ladies and gentlemen, 01:58 and young and old. 02:00 So no matter what age or gender, 02:02 this topic is for you. 02:03 Wanna introduce our family to you right now to my right, 02:07 my sister, Cinda Sanner 02:09 who's producer for 3ABN's Tiny Tots program. 02:12 And just a delight to have you here. 02:14 Happy to be here. 02:16 And to your right is Francine Bergmann. 02:19 Francine, we call her of, course, Aunt Francine. 02:22 She's general manager of 3ABN Kids Network. 02:24 And just delighted to have you here, Sis. 02:26 Thank you. 02:27 I enjoy being here learning and studying the Bible Amen. 02:30 Last but not least 02:32 at the other end of this island is Janelle Owen, 02:35 who is an incredible graphic designer 02:38 and woman of God, 02:40 works in our publishing department. 02:41 And, Janelle, just thank you for jumping in and joining us. 02:44 Thank you. Thank you for asking. 02:46 It's a pleasure to be here. 02:47 It's gonna be fun. Amen. 02:49 The topic we're talking about tonight 02:52 is representing Christ. 02:54 You know, there's a cute story that I read once. 02:57 I really like, and it says, dear God, today, 03:00 I haven't been grumpy and I haven't been irritated 03:03 and I haven't gotten mad at anybody. 03:05 And I don't think I've even been 03:07 tempted to overeat or do anything, 03:10 but God I'm really gonna need Your help 03:12 because I'm about ready to get out of bed. 03:14 And the Lord knows, you know, what's gonna happen next. 03:17 So we laugh about that, right? 03:19 And we say, oh my, 03:21 but there's a lot of truth in that. 03:22 We are called as Christians in these last days 03:26 to represent Christ. 03:27 What does that look like? 03:29 You could say, well, then we just need to be meek and mild. 03:32 Humility is part of representing Christ. 03:34 We'll talk about that tonight. 03:36 You might say, well, we need love and forgiveness. 03:38 Well, that is part of representing Christ. 03:41 We're gonna talk about that tonight. 03:43 You might say, well, 03:45 I don't know what else that involves. 03:46 Well, Jesus was about evangelism, 03:48 well, we need to evangelize. 03:49 Okay, well, that's important too, 03:51 but there's so many aspects to that. 03:54 You know, I like lists. So there's six for tonight. 03:57 Hopefully we'll get through them all. 03:58 I'm gonna tell you them upfront, 04:00 then we'll pray and just jump into the study. 04:02 But the six that we're gonna talk about, 04:04 if we can get through them all is representing Christ 04:07 through relationships, that's number one. 04:10 Through evangelism and outreach, 04:13 that's number two. 04:15 By the way we live, that's number three. 04:17 That's just simply the way we live our lives. 04:20 Number four is through our love and forgiveness. 04:23 Number five is by our humility. 04:26 And number six is a way that we don't always think 04:28 about representing Christ, 04:29 but that is through our courage. 04:32 So we're gonna talk about all those aspects 04:34 of what it looks like as woman to represent Christ, 04:39 but let's go to the Lord in prayer 04:40 and then we'll jump into the word. 04:42 Cinda, you wanna pray for us. 04:44 Absolutely. 04:46 Our dear kind and loving heavenly Father, 04:49 what a wonderful God You are. 04:51 And we just praise Your holy name, 04:54 and we thank You 04:55 for the love that You have bestowed upon us, 04:59 even though we're so undeserving. 05:01 Lord, we thank You for families. 05:03 We thank You for the relationships 05:05 You've given us, for the people You've put in our lives. 05:08 And we ask that You bless this conversation tonight, 05:11 bless our study and fill us With Your Holy Spirit. 05:16 And we thank You and praise You in Jesus' name. 05:19 Amen. Amen. 05:21 Our opening scripture is 2 Corinthians 2. 05:23 So let's turn there. 05:25 Hopefully you have your Bibles at home and opening up with us. 05:28 We're going to 2 Corinthians 2:14. 05:33 Who has that want to jump in and read? 05:36 "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph 05:40 in Christ, and through us diffuses 05:43 the fragrance of His knowledge in every place." 05:48 So why do you think 05:52 it uses the word fragrance? 05:55 It says, thanks be to God, 05:56 He leads us in triumph and through us, that's us. 06:00 He diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge. 06:04 Why use the word fragrance? 06:05 It's an interesting word to use. 06:07 It is. It's talking about sharing Christ. 06:09 Mine says saver, in King James it says saver. 06:12 Okay. 06:14 And it just makes me think of how people notice it. 06:17 It's something, you know, when you have something 06:19 that you smell, you notice it. 06:22 There's a distinct. 06:23 And they say that that's one of the strongest 06:26 of the five senses. 06:27 Oh, is it really? 06:29 It's the sense of smell and that can trigger memories. 06:33 So with that in mind... 06:35 That makes sense. 06:37 I think Jesus is saying, 06:38 you know, you will recognize Me. 06:42 So does that mean then that 06:44 other people are gonna recognize Him in us? 06:47 Prayerfully, yes. 06:48 Okay. 06:49 They absolutely can recognize us. 06:51 And if we live our lives 06:57 with Christ centered as like we, 07:00 when we start our day out, 07:02 we should always ask Jesus into our heart. 07:05 And because He's not gonna come uninvited. 07:08 So when we ask Jesus, we should actually ask Jesus 07:11 into our lives, the first thing every morning. 07:14 And when we asked Jesus into our lives, 07:16 then He'll be with us through the day, 07:18 and then it will kind of reflect 07:24 how we respond throughout our day. 07:27 I know that people can see Christ in us 07:32 because I was actually in a store in the mall. 07:37 And I actually had been, 07:38 I was having a kind of a down day and thinking, 07:41 you know, I wanna be a Christian. 07:43 I want 'cause I had studied something 07:46 about, you know, people seeing Christ in you. 07:50 And I was thinking, you know, I just, sometimes I just react 07:54 so different and I don't think people can see it. 07:57 And I went into a store in the mall 08:00 and one of the salespeople came up to me and she said, 08:04 "Can I ask you a question? 08:06 Because I know you're... 08:08 I've watched you when you come in. 08:09 And I know you're a Christian, 08:11 so I know you can help me on this." 08:13 Amen. Yes. 08:15 And, of course I told her, yes, but I said, 08:17 you know what my first thought was, I thanked God. 08:21 I said, thank you, 08:23 because that was encouraging me. 08:25 So people can see Christ living in us. 08:27 And it's interesting that when we feel like we don't, 08:31 aren't showing him or showing others Him, 08:35 when we're at our lowest, 08:36 we feel like that's when others, 08:38 people can see that too can see us, Him in us. 08:42 And it's amazing that, 08:43 you know, He gives us that encouragement 08:45 because sometimes maybe we feel like 08:47 we're not representing Him well, 08:49 and we get those little nuggets of encouragement. 08:51 Exactly. Helpful. 08:52 And just another thought, they've done some studies 08:55 and they say that the smell, 08:57 the reason you have sense of smell in your nose 09:01 is because you actually have pieces 09:02 of that particle in your nose. 09:04 And I'm just kind of like, I'm just trying to, 09:06 I'm going a little too far here, 09:08 but we almost have to take on a piece of Jesus with us. 09:12 It's like, you have to almost internalize it as well 09:15 in order for you to be able to do that. 09:17 And you need to have that energy 09:18 before you can go on. 09:20 And like she was saying, 09:21 like the beginning of every day, 09:23 ask Him to come into our hearts and it is a daily... 09:26 It's daily because Jesus won't come in uninvited. 09:30 So we need to invite Him in. 09:32 But I just, that day, I just thanked God 09:36 for, you know, encouraging me. 09:40 I mean, here she was asking, she wanted to ask advice 09:43 because she was feeling down about something 09:45 and wanted to ask my advice about something. 09:47 But God was that, to me, 09:50 that was God speaking to me saying, 09:53 don't be so hard on yourself. 09:55 She knew you were a Christian before you even talked to her. 09:57 But I go into the store a lot. 10:01 Okay. 10:02 And so, well, now, I mean, obviously 10:04 enough to where she had seen me interacted with me 10:08 for several years, I guess, 10:11 you know, I'd go in to get something 10:13 and she would help me. 10:14 And so she had known, 10:18 you know, didn't know me, but knew me, 10:21 but I'd never talked to her about religion. 10:24 Wow. 10:25 Isn't that amazing? 10:27 And that's the aroma, the fragrance of Christ, 10:29 you know, coming out of you to that woman. 10:31 That's incredible. 10:32 What I like about that word fragrance 10:34 is you think about, 10:35 if someone puts on cologne or perfume 10:38 and you walk into the room. 10:40 I'm thinking we have several people at 3ABN 10:42 with distinctive colognes or perfumes. 10:45 And if I were to walk in a room, 10:46 I could have my eyes closed. 10:48 I'm looking somewhere else. 10:50 And I say, Pastor John Lomacang is in this room, right? 10:52 Because you recognize, oh, this is his cologne. 10:54 So that fragrance, I don't even have to be next to him. 10:57 The fragrance diffuses throughout the room. 11:01 So think about the impact that we have 11:04 as Christians to represent Christ. 11:06 It's not just the person next to you, 11:08 you rub off on that diffuses, right? 11:10 The ripple, it goes, it can fill the whole room 11:13 in just a few seconds. 11:15 Exactly. 11:16 Which is just amazing. Amen, it is. 11:18 You know, I have one thing 11:21 that actually my nephews joke about this. 11:26 When I'm driving, I started doing this 11:29 because you know, when someone cuts you off 11:32 and you get really mad or maybe I cut someone off 11:36 and they got really mad at me and I didn't mean to. 11:39 And I've had, they were in the car with me 11:42 and this guy was going, 11:46 you know, like yelling at me in the car. 11:48 And I went... 11:51 You like I knew him, and we immediately changed. 11:55 That's great. 11:56 They didn't even look at me. 11:59 Well, they didn't know how to react. 12:00 They stopped me and want to meet with me. 12:02 And they're like aunty 12:04 he's probably like racking his brain, 12:07 like who is this woman. 12:09 She knows me. 12:10 Right. 12:12 But it diffused him, you know, so instead of me just going, 12:15 you know, like I, you know, or whatever, 12:18 I just went, "hi." 12:22 I'll remember that one. 12:23 But they immediately weren't mad at me 12:25 because they thought, oh, no, I know her. 12:28 You know, I better not yell at her. 12:31 So the fragrance diffused, you know? 12:33 It does. 12:35 And then one of the best ways to do that 12:36 is with the people closest to us, with our relationships, 12:39 you know, to diffuse, to share Jesus. 12:42 Sometimes it's easy to be nice to other people, 12:45 you know, we go to church and we say, happy Sabbath. 12:49 Or you go to work and you greet your coworker, 12:52 but then you go home 12:53 and you might not be so nice to your spouse. 12:55 And that is where Christianity is real. 12:58 Right. 13:00 How do we treat our husband and wife, 13:01 and children and parents? 13:03 Let's jump over to Colossians. 13:04 Now we're at a point one of the study. 13:06 This is representing Christ through relationships. 13:11 Now, of course, those relationships 13:12 could be any number of things. 13:14 It could be a coworker, 13:16 it could be a fellow church member, 13:18 but it also is those most intimate, 13:20 close relationships that we have. 13:23 Of course, Ephesians clearly talks about relationships 13:28 of wives and husbands, and children and parents. 13:31 But we're gonna look at it in Colossians. 13:33 Colossians Chapter 3, 13:36 can someone pick it up in verse 17... 13:38 Seventeen, I can do it. 13:39 "And whatever you do in word or deed, 13:42 do all in the name of the Lord Jesus 13:45 giving thanks to God, 13:46 the Father through Him." 13:48 So that one does not mention the word representative. 13:51 But if you read that in the New Living Translation, 13:54 it uses that same word. 13:56 Whatever you do in word or deed, 13:58 do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. 14:00 That word name is representative 14:03 and the representative of the Lord, Jesus, 14:05 meaning that we are His representative. 14:08 In the original language the word name 14:11 is closely related to someone's character, 14:15 someone's authority. 14:17 It's almost inseparable 14:19 from the person that belongs to. 14:20 So in other words, if I do something in the name of Jesus, 14:24 you cannot separate what I do from who Jesus is. 14:27 From that, His, the name from the character. 14:30 So this is, as we read down verses 18, 14:33 all the way to Chapter 4, the beginning of Chapter 4, 14:35 it is this relationship like the next verse, verse 18 says, 14:39 "Wives submit to your own husbands 14:41 as is fitting to the Lord." 14:43 It says "Wives, 14:45 you need to represent Christ to your husbands." 14:48 The next one, verse 19, "Husbands love your wives 14:51 and do not be bitter toward them. 14:52 Husbands, you need to represent Christ to your wife. 14:57 Janelle, you want to pick up the next verse? 14:59 Sure. Verse 20? 15:00 Mm-Hmm. 15:02 "Children, obey your parents in all things, 15:03 for this is well pleasing unto the Lord." 15:06 And we're reading... 15:08 So children are to represent Christ to their parents. 15:10 Yes. Okay. Keep going. 15:12 Which, how many more? 15:14 Can we go to 4:1? 15:15 Yes. Okay. 15:17 "Fathers provoke not your children to anger, 15:19 lest they be discouraged. 15:21 Servants, obey in all things, your masters, 15:23 according to the flesh, 15:25 not with eye service as men pleasers, 15:27 but in singleness of heart, fearing God." 15:30 So I'm jumping into second. 15:31 So fathers are to represent Christ to their children 15:35 and then servants 15:36 are to represent Christ to their masters. 15:39 Now we could say employees 15:42 are to represent Christ to their boss, right? 15:44 Okay. Sorry. 15:46 "And whatsoever you do, 15:48 do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men, 15:52 knowing that of the Lord, 15:53 you shall receive the reward of the inheritance, 15:56 for you serve the Lord Christ. 15:59 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong, 16:01 which he had done: and there is no respect of persons." 16:05 Masters, give unto your servants 16:08 that which is just an equal, 16:10 knowing that ye also having a master in heaven." 16:13 So then the boss or the employer 16:16 is to represent Christ to those who serve under them 16:19 or those who are under them. 16:21 So we can read this and say, oh, that's all well and good, 16:24 but practically, how do we represent Christ 16:27 to those we work with, to those in our immediate family? 16:31 How have you experienced that in your own life? 16:35 What you were saying earlier about manners at home 16:37 and, you know, being loving to your family. 16:42 I don't, it was only maybe two or three years ago. 16:45 This occurred to me that, you know, I say, 16:47 thank you and please, and stuff, 16:49 you know, out in public to other people, 16:51 maybe I should do that at home. 16:54 You know, I think... That's good. 16:56 Because we can take our families for granted, 16:58 you know, my husband, we don't have kids, 17:00 but you know, I could take him for granted. 17:01 I know that, you know, I've done that before. 17:03 And it just, you know, God put that in my mind one day. 17:06 And like you could say please to your husband or thank you, 17:10 you know, these little things that we do to others 17:14 when we're at work or at home or whatever. 17:17 But it just, I don't know, it just never occurred to me. 17:19 And I don't know why, it was just one of those things 17:22 that I think that it's really important. 17:24 Like you said, if it doesn't happen at home, 17:26 then it's not genuine everywhere else we do it. 17:30 And that's what really kind of stuck in my mind. 17:34 I've also found that with family it's easier, 17:39 I think, to, like be upset with your family, 17:43 to be real with your family, 17:45 to let your hair down with the family 17:47 and you know, yell at your family, 17:49 or, you know, but I found that 17:52 we choose our attitude in every circumstance. 17:55 So say my husband did something and it just irks me. 18:01 It's like, seriously, now I can choose to decide. 18:07 I can choose to be upset about it 18:09 and call him out on it. 18:11 Or I can choose to back up and say, why did he do this? 18:17 What's his motive? 18:18 Did I trigger him? 18:20 Exactly. 18:22 Is it, and is there a way that, 18:25 that I can defuse it, exactly. 18:28 So there's that where you kind of take back and go, 18:34 you know, I need to, I would do that with, 18:37 if I got working with you. 18:40 If I got upset with you, I would tend to be gentler. 18:44 Why can't I do that with my husband 18:46 and my kids, you know? 18:48 So choose your attitude in every circumstance, 18:51 make a conscious effort, 18:53 oh, I'm gonna take a different approach to this. 18:57 And sometimes it is like you said, like back up, 19:00 sometimes I have to, when I'm really heated. 19:03 I mean sometimes, I mean, 19:04 there's people I've worked with not here, 19:06 but there's other people that I've worked 19:08 with in difficult school situations. 19:11 And sometimes you do need to back off and just regroup. 19:14 Just say, let me, what's the best way. 19:16 How would Jesus handle this situation? 19:18 Like, and sometimes when you think about it, 19:21 you find a better thing than you would have thought of 19:24 if you did it quickly. 19:26 Sometimes you do need that time to just come back 19:29 and say, okay, what's the best way 19:31 to handle this situation. 19:32 Another practical thing that's worked 19:34 really well for me is breathe, breathe, breathe. 19:39 Just, yeah, breathe and pray, breathe and pray. 19:44 When you have to answer it quickly, especially. 19:46 Yeah, that's true. 19:48 I love that. 19:49 Well, so many people, I mean, this is very common thing. 19:54 You show your good side, 19:56 you know, to everybody you're around, 19:58 and you show your real side at home. 20:01 And really our real side should be both. 20:04 Right. 20:05 Our real side should be converted. 20:07 Right? 20:08 And if we really know Jesus and walk with Him. 20:11 I know one thing, 20:12 Greg and I have been more intentional on, 20:14 I could say, probably in the last year and a half. 20:17 We've been married 19 years this year. 20:20 And, you know, when we were first married, 20:23 we wrote each other a lot of notes. 20:24 It was just one of those common, 20:26 you know, I'd leave a note on his pillow 20:28 or I'd put a note in with lunch 20:30 or, you know, that type of thing. 20:32 And then you get busy at work and it's not purposeful... 20:37 Or conscious. It's not conscious. 20:39 It just happens because life is busy and life is tough 20:43 or whatever, and you're focused and you're whatever. 20:47 And so then I thought, how long has it been 20:49 since I wrote my husband a note. 20:51 You know, I mean, we talk, we pray together every day. 20:55 We talk all the time, but as far as just sat down 20:58 and wrote that little note, 20:59 you know, I'd give him cards, but this is different. 21:02 This is just like one of those little notes. 21:04 So I thought I'm gonna make a conscious decision 21:06 to do that. 21:08 And so we were apart for one day, 21:11 he was working on some project, we weren't together. 21:13 And so I just tucked a little note in for him. 21:16 And then he texted me, Jilly, I got your note. 21:18 And then I thought, oh, so now almost every day, 21:21 I'm like, I gotta write something 21:22 and hide it and he'll find it. 21:24 That's awesome. 21:26 But it's so wonderful to continue that. 21:29 And that is just intentionality, 21:31 you know, being intentional with that again. 21:33 But you know, we can do that with our kids too. 21:35 Yes. 21:36 I used to tuck notes in their lunches all the time 21:40 or when they would go on a trip 21:41 as, you know, tuck it into their. 21:43 When I'd send them off to summer camp 21:44 or, you know, even if it's just a week, 21:47 you know, tuck a little note in different clothes. 21:49 So they get it throughout the week. 21:52 But even though they're adult now, 21:54 we can still send them little texts 21:56 or send them little, you know, something. 21:59 So sweet. Yeah. 22:01 I mean, with Amanda, for example, 22:03 I would give it to her. 22:04 And sometimes especially for a big test 22:06 that she's worried 22:07 about, especially like a math test right now. 22:10 And I would do it and she'd put it in her pocket like 22:12 that was her little encouragement. 22:14 But then I realized, you know, when you were talking, 22:17 I realized sometimes even my husband gets a little, 22:19 not jealous, but it's like, 22:21 you know, he's like, wait, wait a minute 22:22 I used to get them. 22:24 You know, I think we, you know, and that, 22:27 and when you see that though, 22:29 you see Amanda wanting to do the same thing, 22:31 like you see her doing little encouragements 22:32 to the teacher and whatever. 22:34 I mean, even those little notes go so far 22:38 because it just says that you spent the time with me 22:42 or, you know, you spent the time for me. 22:44 And again, that's coming back to spending time with Jesus. 22:46 That's good. 22:47 I have a little quote that I saw. 22:49 I was actually looking for something, 22:50 some stock art in a project I was working on 22:53 and I found this quote about love. 22:56 And I thought it kind of fit here. 22:58 It says, "In family life love is the oil that eases friction, 23:02 the cement that binds closer together and the music 23:05 that brings harmony." 23:07 I thought was a really good quote about love. 23:09 Can you read it one more time? Yeah. 23:11 "In family life love is the oil that eases friction, 23:15 the cement that binds closer together and the music 23:18 that brings harmony." 23:19 That's beautiful. Isn't it? 23:21 I just was thinking right now, you might be watching 23:24 and saying, but my life isn't anything like that. 23:27 My husband's really mean to me. 23:29 My kids don't walk with God. 23:31 So you're painting this idyllic little life 23:33 of writing notes for your husband. 23:36 I can't even stand him. 23:37 And he doesn't like me. 23:39 So I was just thinking of Romans 7. 23:42 And this may seem like a weird comparison 23:44 for a marriage situation or even a parent with a child. 23:48 But Romans 7 is all about this battle 23:50 in the heart of a Christian. 23:51 I want to do this, but I don't do it. 23:53 And the things I hate, those are the things I do. 23:56 And the things that I want to do desperately, 23:59 you might be saying, I wanna treat my husband better. 24:01 I wanna treat my wife better. 24:04 You might be saying, 24:05 I wanna treat my children better. 24:06 I wanna honor and respect my parents. 24:08 But right now I'm just all over the place. 24:11 But the things I wanna do, I'm not doing. 24:13 And the things I don't wanna do, I am doing. 24:16 This is a real battle in the heart of every Christian 24:19 and in many homes today. 24:22 In fact, it ends in Romans 7:24, 24:25 "Oh wretched man that I am, 24:27 who can deliver me from this body of death." 24:29 Meaning I'm done. 24:31 This is so difficult and painful, 24:35 but if you are there, don't lose hope. 24:38 Amen. Romans 8, it doesn't end with Romans 7. 24:41 The next chapter, Romans 8:1, 24:44 "There is therefore now no condemnation 24:46 to those who are in Christ Jesus, 24:48 who do not walk according to the flesh, 24:50 but according to the spirit." 24:51 And as you read Romans Chapter 8, 24:53 the difference is the Holy Spirit. 24:56 So your home might be without that fruit, 24:58 without that oil, it might be without, 25:01 it might have a lot of friction, 25:02 it might be without the love of Jesus, 25:04 but the Holy Spirit coming into your heart 25:08 can make a difference, not only in your life, 25:11 but in the lives of your family 25:13 and the lives who are around you. 25:15 So what a difference as we open up our heart and say, 25:17 "God, would You fill me with Your Spirit? 25:19 Would you change me?" 25:21 What a difference that makes with the lives 25:23 of those that we associate with? 25:25 I'm glad you mentioned Romans 7, 25:26 because it's hard sometimes to react in love. 25:31 And it is a battle. 25:34 Right there it tells us we're battling with the flesh 25:36 and the spirit, and we wanna do what the spirit tells us, 25:39 but our flesh doesn't want to and that constant battle. 25:43 And that's like, I can so identify with this. 25:47 I always go to this one. 25:49 You know, I just feel like my name 25:51 is in here all over the place. 25:54 And then I'm wretched, oh wretched man. 25:57 Of course, that means women too. 25:58 But verse 24, I have that one like blocked off here, 26:01 but it's just... 26:03 You know in Great Controversy, page 477. 26:06 It says, Ellen G. White says, 26:10 "While the Christian's life will be characterized 26:13 by humility, it should not be marked 26:16 with sadness or self-deprecation. 26:20 It is the privilege of everyone so to live 26:24 that God will approve and bless him. 26:26 It is not the will of our heavenly Father 26:29 that we should be ever 26:31 under condemnation and darkness. 26:33 We may go to Jesus and be cleansed and stand 26:37 before the law without shame and remorse." 26:40 Amen. Verse 1, there is that Yeah. 26:43 That is it. 26:44 Absolutely. Yeah. No condemnation. 26:46 Right, no better word, 26:48 if we're discouraged, go to Jesus. 26:51 We don't have to be discouraged. 26:53 Again, choose our attitude in every circumstance. 26:57 So and I did go through a really bad time. 27:00 I mean, you know, 30 years ago 27:02 I went through a really bad divorce where I was, 27:05 you know, went through a really bad time, 27:10 really dark days. 27:11 And I chose 27:14 it's better to be instead of being bitter, 27:18 make yourself better. 27:19 And when you have nowhere else to go, 27:21 you go to your knees and choose your attitude. 27:25 And I chose joy. Amen. 27:27 It was like, and, while it makes 27:31 it just saying it here, even like you're saying, 27:34 there's some people that may be really discouraged. 27:37 But if you make a conscious effort to choose joy, 27:41 I can tell you I've been there, and I chose joy. 27:45 And I'm so glad I did, 27:47 because Jesus does follow through. 27:50 And He can be there for you. Amen. 27:52 I'll just read a little bit further on verse 29. 27:55 It says, "For whom He foreknew 27:58 he also predestined to be conformed 28:01 to the image of his Son." 28:04 And I just, I think that shows forth again. 28:07 He does choose us. 28:09 He wants the best for us. 28:11 And it is a choice. 28:13 He wants that choice for us, but we need to live for Him. 28:15 He wants us to be conformed to His character. 28:18 Amen. 28:20 And jump down to verse 35, "Who shall separate you 28:22 from the love of Christ? 28:23 Shall tribulation or distress or persecution, 28:26 famine, nakedness, peril, sword." 28:28 Verse 37, "In all these things we are more than conquerors 28:33 through Him who loved us." 28:35 So no matter what you are going through right now, 28:37 the Lord, Jesus loves you. 28:39 The Lord Jesus has a plan for your life. 28:42 He says, "Come to me. 28:43 I will forgive. 28:44 I will restore. 28:46 I will cleanse. 28:47 I will make new. 28:48 I will transform. 28:50 I will be in your home. 28:51 I will be in your heart. 28:52 I will be in your marriage. 28:54 I will be in your family." That is the God we serve. 28:56 I mean, I just, I love God. 29:02 Thank you. Loving Jesus, you know. 29:03 Yeah. Exactly. 29:04 And we have that privilege and we say, 29:06 well, we're gonna represent Him to our family. 29:07 I can't do that. 29:09 That's Him. 29:10 Jesus living in us 29:12 and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. 29:14 So let's go to number two. 29:16 I was gonna say, which is why He gave us the Holy Spirit. 29:17 Yes. 29:18 He knew we couldn't do it on our own. 29:20 And so He knew that Jesus, when I'm saying He, 29:23 Jesus knew that we couldn't do it on our own. 29:25 So He gave us the gift to help us. 29:30 I mean, that doesn't mean we're always gonna be, 29:32 you know, perfect, obviously. 29:35 But we can choose joy. 29:38 We can choose Jesus, 29:41 and He'll give us the Holy Spirit to help us. 29:43 Amen. 29:44 So He comes in, we represent Him to our closest family, 29:49 those people we associate with and those by extension, 29:53 of course, church family, 29:54 and work family and neighbors, community. 29:57 We all have an influence. 29:58 We have people that we associate with. 30:00 But also, number two, we can represent Him 30:02 by evangelism and outreach. 30:05 The heartbeat of God is to save us. 30:09 That's why He came. 30:10 "God commended His love for us," Romans 5:8, 30:13 "in that while we were yet sinners, He died for us." 30:17 So the whole purpose of the plan of redemption 30:20 from the very beginning, 30:22 the plan in motion for Jesus to come 30:24 was to reconcile us back to God. 30:26 Sin brought disconnection. 30:28 Think of Adam and Eve in the beginning, 30:30 they ran and hid from God 30:31 because sin separates us from God. 30:35 And yet Jesus came 30:36 that we could be reconciled back to God. 30:39 We could be reconciled and we have 30:42 that privilege to help reconcile others to Him. 30:44 So let's look at that. 30:46 2 Corinthians 5:18-21, 30:50 who wants to pick that one up? 30:53 2 Corinthians 5:18-21. 30:55 This talks about the privilege we have 30:58 of reconciling the world to God. 31:01 Now it doesn't mean we do the reconciliation, 31:03 but we have the privilege of being his ambassador 31:06 in sharing that good news. 31:07 Amen. 31:10 Don't everybody read this. 31:11 I'll read it. 31:13 2 Corinthians 5:18 you said? 31:16 Yeah. Let's go 18-21. 31:17 Okay. 31:18 "Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself 31:23 through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry 31:27 of reconciliation, that is, 31:29 that God was in Christ reconciliation 31:33 the world to Himself, 31:34 not imputing their trespasses to them, 31:37 and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 31:41 Now and then, we are ambassadors for Christ, 31:45 as though God were pleading through us: 31:48 we implore you on Christ's behalf, 31:52 be reconciled to God. 31:54 For He made Him who knew no sin 31:58 to be sin for us, that we might 32:02 become the righteousness of God in Him." 32:07 We could talk a whole hour on those verses. 32:09 I love those verses. 32:10 What does that mean to you all? 32:12 What does that say to you as far as our privilege 32:16 to represent Him to other people in evangelism? 32:19 It's a major privilege. 32:21 I looked at the definition of the word ambassadors 32:24 and it's amazing. 32:26 It's a huge responsibility to it. 32:28 The definition I've found says an accredited diplomat 32:31 sent by a country as its official representative 32:34 to a foreign country. 32:36 An accredited diplomat. Yeah. 32:39 So that accredited I thinking, 32:41 you know, we don't have that on our own, 32:43 but He gives it to us. 32:45 The credit, the accreditation, a diplomat too. 32:49 A diplomat just sounds like such a dignified word too, 32:52 and even more than ambassador. 32:54 And it's just, it's amazing the responsibility that, 32:57 that carries. 32:58 Yeah. 33:00 Well, you know, some people feel like 33:01 they can't be a witness. 33:04 I can't be an ambassador, you know? 33:07 What do I know? 33:09 We may not be able to be, but God gives us the credit. 33:13 Yes. Amen. 33:15 And helps us. 33:18 I have an interesting story to share 33:20 about evangelism outreach 33:22 that I felt like it was a good one to share here. 33:25 A few years ago and if you guys remember the book 33:28 Hacksaw Ridge... 33:29 Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. 33:30 The movie, well, because the book came out, 33:32 we did some outreach at some of the local theaters 33:35 because the movie was playing. 33:36 And so we had all tons of books 33:39 and people there helping us pass them out. 33:41 And so we had our booth there for the church 33:43 and this one night we were there, 33:45 a young man stopped at our booth 33:47 and he was really interested in the book 33:49 and wanted to come back and talk to us. 33:51 And so he went into the movie, he said, 33:52 I'll stop after the movie's done. 33:54 And so after the movie went out, 33:57 all the people were coming out 33:58 and three people in front of this young man, 34:01 there was this other guy and he stopped to talk to Don. 34:04 And he started criticizing our beliefs, 34:08 that Seventh-day Adventist beliefs. 34:10 And so we knew that the enemy was doing this 34:12 because this young man wanted to, 34:14 he wanted to stop at our booth. 34:16 And so, I was praying. 34:18 I'm like, "Lord, how can we diffuse this?" 34:19 As we're talking about earlier. 34:21 And so, I went over to Don and said, 34:23 "Oh, do you have that book? 34:24 I was looking for this book." 34:25 And it was just kind of trying to interrupt them, 34:27 you know, and the conversation and the guy left. 34:30 And thankfully, 34:31 it kind of diffused it to where, 34:33 because the guy was getting heated. 34:34 He was like, you know, you guys believe this, 34:36 this is wrong, and this is wrong. 34:38 And Don was just, he wasn't saying anything. 34:41 And we knew that that young man was watching, 34:43 it was a total great controversy moment. 34:46 And so, you know, we knew that that young man 34:49 was still wanting to come up there 34:50 and talk to us and he was watching all this. 34:52 And so, I know that that was for him 34:54 and that the enemy didn't want him 34:56 to come and talk to us. 34:58 But that incident really stuck in my mind. 35:00 And just how real this battle is that we're in, 35:03 especially when we're out 35:05 in the public and people are watching, 35:07 we're even more of a spectacle. 35:09 And that was, that just really stuck in my mind. 35:11 And I thought it was, you know, amazing to see 35:13 that great controversy and, you know, to be able to pray. 35:16 And the Lord just totally took care of it. 35:19 That's awesome. 35:21 I wanna say something about Don not saying anything 35:24 back to this guy. 35:26 That's the perfect response. 35:28 That's Jesus' response because when, 35:32 you know, people were accusing Jesus of things, 35:36 what was His response? 35:38 Silent. 35:39 Nothing. Nothing. 35:41 So when somebody's arguing, 35:44 there's no, it's futile to be arguing with them. 35:49 I always tell people 35:51 we really shouldn't be giving our opinions 35:54 unless someone asks for it. 35:56 Right. 36:02 When you think about it 36:04 because, you know, you want to go, 36:05 oh, you know what? 36:07 The really the better way to do this would be... 36:10 And they're like, whereas if they would go, 36:14 you know what Cinda, do you have an idea 36:16 of what would make this better 36:18 then they're gonna listen. 36:20 So we really shouldn't give our opinion 36:21 if people don't ask for it. 36:23 Right. 36:24 And that's a hard lesson for me 36:25 because, you know, it's like, it's so easy to just go, 36:28 oh, wait a minute you're not doing that right. 36:33 So, but Don's response when you said, 36:36 Don wasn't saying anything. 36:38 And the guy wouldn't leave though. 36:39 The guy was just like barking at him, 36:41 like he wouldn't... 36:42 But your response was great too. 36:43 And I was like, well, how can, I don't wanna go 36:45 and provoke this guy, make it worse, 36:48 still like praying. 36:49 And so then God just gave me a thought, 36:51 go over and ask Don if he had a book or something, 36:53 you know, just to... 36:55 Interrupt right there 36:56 and that was what needed to happen. 36:57 Yeah. So God worked it out. 37:00 See, that was the Holy Spirit helping you both 37:02 know how to react. 37:04 Yeah. 37:05 Because people are watching and those public 37:08 it's easy to be a Christian. 37:10 Well, easy, I guess I should say 37:12 in "at church," 37:14 but when you're out in public and there's people 37:16 that, you know, don't know 37:18 what a Christian is and they're, 37:19 you know, they've maybe never read the Bible 37:21 and you know, what's the quote. 37:24 Some, you might be the only Bible 37:25 that someone ever reads. 37:27 And so it's important. 37:30 Amen. It's powerful. 37:32 One of my favorite parts is in verse 20. 37:35 "Now, then we are ambassadors for Christ 37:36 as though God were pleading through us." 37:39 So it's not us pleading. It's not us trying to witness. 37:43 It's not us trying to say, well, I'm gonna share, 37:46 this is the best way to share. 37:47 This is the best way to evangelize. 37:49 It's God speaking through us. 37:52 And then it says, "We implore you on Christ's behalf, 37:54 be reconciled to God." 37:56 So it's not our words. It's not our character. 38:01 It's opening up our heart to God and saying, 38:03 would you use me to evangelize, whatever that looks like. 38:07 It doesn't matter, but God can show you. 38:10 And that's the beautiful thing, 38:11 you know, to just share that with someone else. 38:14 Amen. 38:15 We all have different styles. 38:17 We all have different ways that we share. 38:20 So I think we have to be cognizant of that fact. 38:26 Absolutely. 38:27 And Danny always says, I think it's Danny. 38:30 Your most powerful witnesses is your own personal testimony. 38:32 Yes. 38:34 You know, and that is amazing to be able to, 38:37 you can't argue with that. 38:38 Right. 38:40 You know, you can't, you don't have to be eloquent. 38:42 You don't have to say, well, I know this scripture 38:44 and that scripture, you just say, 38:45 this is what Jesus has done for me. 38:47 That's it. That's powerful. 38:48 And, you know, a lot of people have a hard time with sharing 38:50 their testimony. 38:51 And you know, I was one of them 38:53 because I never wanted to show that side 38:59 that I went through a really dark time. 39:02 And it was my sister Linda that said, 39:04 "Sis, you need to share 39:08 and because you don't know who you can encourage." 39:11 And that's actually the Bible, 39:13 we're supposed to share in joys 39:17 and sorrows and just because we don't think 39:22 our testimony is maybe as bad 39:28 or, you know, as somebody like, I just, I don't compare. 39:33 We shouldn't compare ourselves to others. 39:36 We should... 39:38 I always tell Joe, 39:39 we need to stay in our own lane. 39:45 So be you, stay in our own lane, 39:48 be me and stop trying to be, 39:51 you know, anybody around me. 39:54 Don't compare yourself to others, 39:56 but let God use you 39:58 where you're at and who he made you. 40:03 You know, as you were talking about that, 40:04 it just came to my mind 40:06 that if we don't share a testimony, 40:07 maybe we're robbing God, 40:09 because people are not, they're not getting 40:13 that encouragement they need. 40:15 You know, that might've been one, something. 40:18 That sounds like what Linda said to me. 40:21 We were speaking at a women's ministries and Linda, 40:25 I never knew what to speak about. 40:27 And so Linda would always 'cause, 40:28 you know, and Linda would say, 40:31 "Well, Cinda, why don't you talk about this today?" 40:32 And I say, oh, okay, I didn't talk about that. 40:35 And then one time she said, 40:38 "Cinda I want you to tell your story." 40:42 Well, tell them, I want you to tell the ladies today 40:45 what you went through." 40:46 And I was like "No, I don't wanna do that." 40:49 Because I always wanted to have fun. 40:53 You know, I wanna be happy. 40:55 I wanna have fun. 40:56 And she said, "No, I want." 40:57 I said, "No, give me something else." 40:59 She goes, "I'm not gonna give you anything else." 41:04 It was like we did this every single time 41:06 we did a women's ministries, 41:08 like 20 minutes or 30 minutes 41:10 before I was supposed to go to speak. 41:12 I'd say, Linda, what am I gonna talk on? 41:13 I don't know what I'm gonna talk about. 41:15 And so literally I was going to get called up 41:18 there and she goes, 41:19 I'm not giving you another subject. 41:21 Just talk on your, you tell your life story. 41:23 And I was like, oh okay. 41:26 And I did. 41:27 And you know, afterwards, I had several ladies came up to me 41:32 and they said, "You have no idea 41:34 what hearing your story meant for me. 41:39 I am going through right now what you've went through." 41:43 Wow. 41:45 And I was just, I literally was taken back and humbled. 41:49 Do you know in everything? 41:50 I was just humbled because I was like, wow. 41:55 And then she said one of the things she said, 41:58 you know, she said, 42:00 not that I don't love to hear you speak. 42:03 She said, I do, 42:04 because you're always fun and silly and goofy 42:08 and whatever. 42:09 She said, I always thought, oh, she's got the perfect life. 42:12 She could never relate to me. 42:16 So people don't, you know, 42:17 we hide, we hide that part of us. 42:21 We hid it. 42:22 We do, so go ahead. 42:25 I was gonna say, you know, by sharing our testimony, 42:27 it only, it not only help someone else, 42:29 but it helps us to heal because it's like a, 42:33 I mean, there's so many things that sharing a testimony 42:35 can do for other people and us. 42:37 It's just, it's amazing how that works 42:39 and how God uses that. 42:40 Amen. 42:42 We're gonna jump over number three. 42:44 I know we said number three is representing Him 42:46 by the way we live, but we're gonna jump over 42:48 that 'cause we've really been talking about the way 42:50 that we live as Christians 42:52 and what a difference that makes. 42:53 So let's go to number four. 42:55 It says, representing Him 42:56 through our love and forgiveness. 42:59 Let's turn over to Colossians Chapter 3. 43:01 This is, to be honest, 43:03 a challenging area for me sometimes. 43:06 Sometimes I want to hang on to something 43:08 that I should let go. 43:09 Sometimes God says, "Jill, I want you to forgive." 43:12 And I say, "But it feels kind of good to hold 43:13 a grudge right now." 43:15 But as Christians, God calls us to open up our hearts 43:19 so that He can clean that junk out. 43:21 So, Aunt Francine, I don't know if you want to read, 43:24 we're in Colossians 3 maybe 12-15. 43:27 Okay. 43:28 "Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, 43:32 put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, 43:36 longsuffering, bearing with one another, 43:39 and forgiving one another, 43:41 if anyone has complaint against one another, 43:44 even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 43:48 But also all these things put on the love, 43:51 which is the bond of perfection. 43:54 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, 43:57 to which also you were called in one body, 44:01 and be thankful." 44:04 That's a mouthful. 44:05 You catch all that, we're to put on what, tender mercies, 44:09 humility, meekness, longsuffering. 44:13 You mean I'm supposed to bear with other people. 44:15 God, I want them to bear with me, right? 44:17 I'm supposed to bear with others. 44:19 I'm supposed to love others. 44:20 I'm supposed to forgive others. 44:21 So practically, how do we do that? 44:24 It's easy to talk, right? 44:26 It's easy to say, oh yes. 44:28 Or even sometimes it's easy to say, well, I forgive you. 44:31 And maybe I don't mean it in my heart. 44:33 You have to have that peace in your heart first. 44:35 Okay. 44:37 Longsuffering means we need to do it a lot. 44:40 Not just once, we need to do it a long time. 44:44 Definitely. 44:46 But I think that's it, whatever's in your heart 44:48 will show through. 44:49 And so it's almost like you almost 44:51 have to work on your own heart first 44:53 and acknowledge that and say, 44:55 Lord, I need that peace that comes from you only. 44:58 And then in order to do 44:59 that sometimes I have to look for the good 45:02 and that's where the thankfulness I think comes in 45:05 is because if I'm sitting there griping 45:07 at all these other things that I'm focusing 45:09 on the negative, I'm not putting, 45:12 it's like I have to work on my attitude. 45:15 An attitude adjustment, really. 45:17 And so sometimes it's having that thankful heart 45:21 can change that attitude and work on my heart 45:24 for that peace and that longsuffering, 45:26 because if I don't acknowledge, 45:29 what's hurting inside of me or that the bitterness 45:32 that I might feel towards somebody, 45:35 it's not gonna happen. 45:36 It has to work within my heart first. 45:38 Amen. 45:40 That's beautiful. That's a good point. 45:42 Wow. 45:44 I have a lot of work to do. 45:46 Me too. 45:47 You're not the only one. 45:50 I was just thinking of a time in my own life 45:53 when I hold on to bitterness a long time. 45:58 I had been deeply hurt 46:03 by someone and the person I thought was my friend 46:07 and a person I trusted. 46:09 And I thought I would do the Christian thing 46:13 and I wouldn't gossip about this woman. 46:15 So I thought, well, that's the Christian thing. 46:17 So I'm not going to go around to other people. 46:18 Did you see what she did to me? 46:20 Did you see what all that? 46:21 So I'm gonna stuff it inside. 46:22 Well, that wasn't so good either, but I stuffed it 46:25 and I stuffed it for months. 46:26 And I remember one day, 46:27 I was washing dishes at the kitchen sink, 46:30 and I like to post scriptures above the sink. 46:33 And I work on memorizing as I'm doing dishes. 46:36 And this time the scripture was in Hebrews 12 and it says, 46:39 "Follow peace with all men and holiness 46:41 without which no one shall see God." 46:43 And I thought, oh, thank you, God, 46:45 I'm walking in peace and holiness. 46:47 This is so self-deceived I was, not knowing 46:50 that I had unforgiveness bottled up in my heart. 46:53 I'm scrubbing dishes. 46:55 Thank you, God that I'm walking in peace 46:57 with my brothers and sisters. 46:58 And then the next verse just kind of jolted me. 47:00 And it says, "Looking diligently, 47:02 lest any of you fail of the grace of Christ, 47:05 lest any root of bitterness, 47:08 springing up trouble, you and thereby many be defiled." 47:11 And I remember reading that and it was like, 47:13 God spoke to my heart, not audibly, 47:15 but you know, in your mind. 47:17 And he said, "Jill, if you hold on to this unforgiveness 47:19 and this bitterness, it will ruin you, 47:22 your marriage and your ministry. 47:25 Do you want that?" 47:27 And I thought, God, I don't want 47:28 that, but I can't pull it out. 47:31 And I prayed every day, God, I want Your peace. 47:33 God, I want to be changed. 47:34 God, I don't want this unforgiveness. 47:36 And it didn't go anywhere for me 47:39 until I started to pray for this person. 47:41 And every morning I prayed the things 47:44 that I would have prayed for my best friend. 47:46 God, would You bless their ministry? 47:48 God, would You bless their marriage? 47:49 God, would You bless them financially? 47:51 God, would You bless them with souls? 47:53 God, would You bless them with health? 47:55 All good things. 47:56 And I felt fake, you know, God, 47:59 I'd rather get in a car accident, 48:01 nothing serious, but maybe they could break a leg 48:03 or have a little pain, right? 48:04 And so... It's a real car. Right. 48:06 Show me 'cause I stayed in my car. 48:09 And so, anyways, so that's where 48:11 I just went back to God 48:13 and I didn't feel like doing that, but I just prayed that 48:16 day after day, and day one, no change, 48:19 day two no change, three. 48:21 And it was probably day five maybe. 48:23 And I was praying. I felt that release. 48:27 Yeah. 48:28 All that pain and bitterness that I'd been carrying 48:32 for so long was gone. 48:36 And that is the power of God, 48:39 because I could never have done that. 48:43 I just talked a lot about that. 48:44 I don't know if you all adjust up, you know. 48:46 No, I thought that was Andrew. 48:47 I actually had something similar. 48:49 But I just remember that I was, 48:53 you know, 'cause one of my brother said, "Sis, 48:57 you need to pray and ask for this person to be blessed." 49:01 And I said, "Okay." 49:04 But I said, "I don't really want him to be blessed," 49:06 you know, and he goes, "It's okay, God will change. 49:10 You're doing this for your heart. 49:13 You're not doing this for them, 49:16 you're doing it for your own heart. 49:19 And so you need to pray 49:21 and God will change that within your heart." 49:24 'Cause I remember, 49:25 you know, the first couple of prayers I go, 49:27 oh God, please bless them. 49:29 And I go, oh, you know, 49:31 I don't really mean that actually. 49:34 You know, I go, well, 49:36 I might as well be honest with you, 49:37 God, because You already know I don't mean that. 49:40 But then I started praying, give me Your love for them. 49:45 Oh, that's good. 49:46 Yeah. 49:48 And then I stopped praying. 49:50 Now when I pray, please bless them. 49:54 I really want them to be blessed, 49:56 you know, but I know what you're thinking 49:59 because I was just like, oh God, 50:00 I really don't want him to, 50:02 don't do anything really good for him. 50:05 You know, just bless them a little bit. 50:07 And that's not what God says and we're actually doing it 50:10 for, like you said, 50:12 this is where we need to change. 50:13 It is. 50:15 One of my friends used to say 50:16 that it's hard to hate someone you're praying for. 50:18 And then when she told me that I was, 50:20 you know, really new in my Christian walk 50:23 and now I know what she means though. 50:25 It does make a difference. 50:27 It softens your heart for that person a lot. 50:29 Right. 50:30 And then you start seeing them at a different light 50:33 and you start actually feeling sorry for them 50:36 because they're so, 50:39 if they're so bent up on hurting people, 50:41 you actually start feeling sorry for them. 50:43 Yeah. We can put tender mercies. 50:45 Yeah. Sorry. 50:46 I was just thinking about, you know, like bully situations 50:48 where there's a bully and it's obvious 50:50 that that person has been hurt in some way. 50:53 And they're just taking it out on the first person 50:56 that they can. 50:57 And, but it's hard when you're the one 50:59 that's the target of that to see it in that way. 51:02 But just think about what Jesus said on the cross, 51:05 Father, forgive them. 51:07 They don't know what they're doing. 51:08 And it's true, and we do that too. 51:11 Same way, like you'd look at the bully 51:15 when you realize maybe, I mean, we've heard story 51:18 after story of people 51:19 who lash out at people and it has, 51:22 and that's why another, 51:23 we shouldn't take anything personal 51:25 because when we're in a bad mood, 51:28 who do you, you attack the first person that comes in. 51:30 Right. He had nothing to do. 51:33 They have nothing to do with you. 51:34 Or you know that you just happened to walk in the room 51:37 and I'm in a bad mood, you know? 51:39 So we can't take it personal, but we also have to look 51:42 and make that that's gotta be a hurting person. 51:46 Because if they're bullying other people, 51:49 they have to be a hurting person. 51:51 That's a very good point. I love that. 51:52 That's really good. 51:54 Were you gonna say something, Francine. 51:55 I think we cut you off. 51:56 Nope. I can't think of anything right now. 51:59 Thank you. Okay. 52:02 We wanna go to the Lord in prayer. 52:03 I was just thinking in my own life, 52:05 how many times God reminds me 52:06 that, Jill, you're the one who needs forgiveness the most, 52:10 you know, sometimes I may hold on to something, 52:13 but yet He says, I forgave you. 52:15 And so I'm so grateful. 52:18 Yeah. 52:19 What a wonderful God we serve. 52:20 So just, well we want 52:22 to at the close of this program, 52:25 spend some time in prayer. 52:26 I don't know what you're going through. 52:30 I don't know who you need to forgive in your own life. 52:33 I don't know who God wants you to witness to and to reach out 52:37 and share your testimony with. 52:40 I hope and pray that something that we've shared here tonight 52:43 about representing Jesus has encouraged you 52:46 and inspired you in your own walk with Him. 52:50 And we just wanna pray for you right now. 52:51 You're a 3ABN family and we need each other. 52:55 So, Janelle, why don't we start with you? 52:57 And then we'll just go around the circle and I'll close. 52:59 Okay. 53:02 Dear Heavenly Father, we do thank You for this time 53:04 that we could spend together recognizing 53:07 and just understanding how You have made us 53:10 representatives for You, 53:12 and the privilege and the responsibility 53:14 that comes with that help us to reflect you in all that we do. 53:18 And in those difficult moments, help us to call out to You 53:21 that You would help us 53:23 because You've given us promises 53:25 that You would help us. 53:26 And I thank you for all that You do for us 53:28 and just help us to reflect You in our families 53:31 and to the world. 53:32 And thank You for this privilege in Jesus' name. 53:35 Amen. Amen. 53:36 Dear Heavenly Father, thank You so much that 53:38 we can come to You 53:39 and that You know us better than we know ourselves. 53:42 And we ask that You live in our hearts 53:46 and sometimes mold us 53:49 even if it hurts to reflect Your character, 53:53 show us the right way to go to pray. 53:57 Just help us to depend on You 53:59 and to find Your example in Your Word. 54:02 Thank You for loving us unconditionally 54:04 as Your children and ambassadors as well. 54:07 Amen. 54:09 Dear Father, we just praise Your holy name. 54:12 I just thank You for loving us unconditionally. 54:17 And, you know, we're not perfect, 54:20 but that's okay with You. 54:22 And I wanna thank You 54:23 for the gift of the Holy Spirit, 54:26 who is with us every moment of the day 54:31 and can prompt us and help us 54:33 to, to act as representatives of You. 54:38 So that people will see You through us. 54:41 Lord, I pray that You will be with each one listening 54:45 that they will also ask for this gift 54:48 of Your Holy Spirit and encourage them 54:51 to choose not only joy, but to choose You, oh Lord, 54:56 for a life with You is worth eternity. 55:01 So I wanna thank you. 55:04 Thank You, God. 55:06 Thank You that we are Your children. 55:08 Thank You that You wanted us. 55:10 God, thank You that You redeemed us. 55:13 Thank You that You bought us back 55:15 from the land of the enemy. 55:16 And we're just so grateful for that. 55:18 Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us 55:22 that we should be called Your sons and daughters. 55:24 And we're grateful for that. 55:26 Right now I pray for my brothers and sisters. 55:28 Those may be in that valley of decision. 55:30 Can I trust God? 55:32 Can I open up my heart? 55:34 Will He change me? 55:35 Will He do anything? 55:36 And so, Father, I just pray for them right now, 55:40 even as we pray for ourselves here in this room. 55:43 And, God, we ask that as we open up even a teeny bit, 55:47 that You would come in and then sup with us, 55:50 that You would change us, 55:51 that You would give us Your peace, 55:54 Lord, when we need it most give us Your grace 55:56 when we lack strength, 55:58 give us the anointing of Your Holy Spirit. 56:00 We pray for deliverance from addiction. 56:02 We pray for freedom from bondage. 56:04 We pray for those areas of our lives, 56:08 where we need forgiveness 56:09 and we need change and we need You. 56:11 Would You come in and change us? 56:14 We thank You. 56:15 We love You in the precious and holy name of Jesus. 56:19 Amen. Amen. 56:22 We have just a couple moments left. 56:24 We're gonna go around the table 56:26 and give each one of you, 56:27 maybe a closing thought just a few seconds, not a long time, 56:29 but start with you Janelle. 56:31 Something you wanna share. 56:32 I like this topic of representing Christ 56:35 because I think it brings us back 56:37 to the reality of who God is 56:40 and how He wants us to be His representatives. 56:44 And I just, it's amazing to me, 56:46 the privilege that He entrusts in us. 56:48 And I just pray that all of us would give us 56:51 that, have the opportunity. 56:52 Amen. Francine? 56:55 We need to have the love of Jesus. 56:58 And sometimes it's hard. 57:01 It's not easy to love the person 57:03 that is really hurting you. 57:05 And we all have that heartache, 57:08 but find the opportunities to show that love. 57:12 Amen. 57:14 I just want to encourage every one of you, 57:17 every morning invite Jesus into your life. 57:20 And He'll be with you all day long. 57:22 Amen. 57:23 Thank you so much, Cinda and Aunt Francine 57:25 and Janelle, for being here. 57:26 And we thank you for joining us as well. 57:28 I'm reminded of Hebrews 3:15, 57:31 "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts. 57:34 Open up your heart to accept Jesus." |
Revised 2021-06-27