Numbers Study - 2025-12-17

Welcome to the Lansdale Life Church podcast.

If you're seeking a closer relationship with Jesus Christ, this podcast is for you.

Thank you for joining us today.

And life and the interesting thing about that is we have looked over the months and months

that we have been in the Old Testament. We find that we realize that, but the Israelites didn't

realize that God was the source of everything. They used to go off after other Gods. They

were influenced by other tribes. They had their own greed and their own issues they dealt with,

and they never really learned the lesson. And we on the other side of life now, meaning Christendom,

we have that opportunity to understand what God really is. And you may think in your life

I often do as somebody gets up and talks and you evaluate, okay, well, Lord, I'm committed,

but you know, I have these impediments or Lord, I'm not worthy. And you know, I'm a kind of a

mechanical guy. I think of percentages, Lord, what percentage do I have that is for you? Am I 80%

there? Am I 90% there? And I sold out 100%. And so we do these evaluations, but I would

encourage you and understand of what particular dilemmas you may face that God sees you as perfect.

He loves you no greater than if you would be perfect. And for that, we thank the Lord because

of his love toward us. Our commitment, yes, is essential. It's part of the growth. It's part

of what we do. The experiences of life, the objectives, sometime comes in focus when we have

obstacles in our way. We used to years ago pray for these obstacles to disappear. Well,

now we understand that patience is something that's not easily learned. And that patience comes with

persecution, objectives, things in our life that kind of stall us sometimes not going forward,

but there are lessons to learn and all that. If we are able, sometimes we can't look through these

things and understand how God's working in them. And yet he loves us and he continues to abide in us.

So God is not an addition to our lives, but he is the source of our life. In Romans

11 36, it says from whom for from him and through him and to him are all things. So he

is the center. So we have that as a opening verse and we understand that everything that exists in our

realm of influence and our activities in the creation, in the purpose of what our life is,

in the meaning and in the destiny of what he has for us and the fulfillment in him comes from him.

To place God at the center simply means this. It is to acknowledge that life has

all right. Okay. We'll turn you down. All right. That's my wife. Bring a loaf of bread home.

No, no, no, no, no. Okay. Just kidding.

Well, I tell you a quick story as a side for that. One time I was at sharing and we were,

we had little boys and I was waxing eloquent about something over the pulpit and I felt this

thing up my sleeve and I was working at it and I was talking here. I pulled out a sock

and everybody started laughing. Well, this is neat. I mean, there was sock I caught up in there in

the laundry. So there are embarrassing moments up here, things to keep you humble. So our place

in life is to acknowledge that life was never meant to revolve around me. And I think most of

us get that. But again, what of the percentage of you is committed and what percentage is not?

I'll let you answer that. And then my destiny is rightly ordered. There is no random events that

happen in our life. But as God opens the windows of blessing and the windows of opportunity to trust

him, I no longer define myself by success or failure or by approval or rejection. Now,

that's a tough statement, you know, because everybody seeks to be recognized, wanted,

acknowledged, but yet the strength of our relationship in the Lord should be such that

we don't have to look at that as part of the acceptance because God has accepted us.

Uh-oh, excuse me. All right. Okay. And the idea of God being at the center, he shapes our life

for a purpose. Life's no longer fragmented into sacred and secular spaces. Well, I'm going to do

this now for me and over here, this is me, and then over here is my Christian. No, it's an

amalgamation of the two. It's a continuum. And then my work, relationships, decisions, and desires

are offered back to him. We give those things because we understand that are a blessing to us

and we acknowledge that and we give them back to him as an offering. So understanding where the

Israelites were, and again, we have talked about this from a sense of the secular, the sin

was atoned for through sacrifices, but ultimately it could never be forgiven until Christ came to

this earth. So let's take a look at, again, everything else finds its proper place. There

is joy, there is peace, and there is hope that we have. And that's notwithstanding. We don't

qualify for that. It's given to us. We have to accept it and walk in it. And then finally in Acts

1728, in him we live, we move, and we have our being. So there is a completeness that we have

that can only be found in Christ. All right. So I'm not going to go through like I usually do

and define the chapter. I'm just going to pick up the yellow lines. We're going to be talking

about three feasts this evening in Numbers 29. The Feast of Tabernacles verses 1-6, basically it's

the trumpets are blown to signal renewal and worship. Those are the key words. And the Day

of Atonement is in the next set of verses 7-11. It's a solemn day of fasting and self-humbling.

And then the Feast of Tabernacles, or some people call it the Feast of Booths in 12-38. It's a week

long celebration of God's provision as seen in the wilderness. So we have different days that they

do things. And then there's a solemnity at the end where there's a summary statement. So what

we're going to do is move into these festivals. And you can see here, I brought this chart up,

you can see the various months of the year that we know versus the months and calendar

idea of the Jewish calendar as it sets out. And you'll notice down at the bottom,

this is where we're going to major. It is in the sixth and seventh month that these three

events take place. So a question that we would have, why was the seventh month the special high

point of Israel's year? What do you think about that? Why was it so special to have? And you

notice the dispersion around, but this was the high point. This was the analysis, the conviction,

and the celebration. And so what's important about this month?

What could possibly be? Yes.

Was there harvest time?

Was there harvest time so they could take what they harvested and give it to the Lord?

That's the fulfillment of all the work that they've done all the months, right? So if we have a bad

harvest, we don't yield much. We still go through the motions and all that. But harvest is the big

thing. I mean, and this was the first fruits that God looked for in the harvest. So we have a

situation where we are concentrating on what God's doing because it's harvest time. Again,

any harvest is a time of celebration. I remember on my uncle's farm, three uncles had three farms,

and when harvest time came, we used to go out and harvest the oats and harvest the

grains and the grasses and make. Yeah, I was up there one time. I could hardly lift a bale of hay,

and a bale of hay is about 200 pounds. And I thought, why is that? My uncle could get up there

and throw it on the wagon. But you know, you soon learn that harvest is in a very active time,

and it's an active time of celebration. To give you an example of that, I was just looking at a

video about walnuts. And I don't know how I fell across it. It's like Chris,

when he comes across stuff, you get all entangled in it, right? And would you believe there are 60

tons of walnuts collected by you and me as individuals out in the Ohio, Indiana area

that are brought to shellers and providers of walnuts that actually, I think, accept process

something like 70,000 tons of walnuts. So here we are, and there was a picture of all these people

just going along by the road, picking up walnuts with their kids and so forth, and it was a

celebration. And they'd come to the processing center. Well, they had flags there and balloons

and everything. I thought, my gosh, you wouldn't think of this about walnuts. You know, we have

them on our property at Meadowland. I'd kick them out of the way because of walking, and

you could fall over them. But it's just something of the celebration that people tend to have

when it is harvest time. So this is the setting that we have. So we'll go through the

three of the settings here. First, the Feast of Trumpets, again, is the wake-up call,

like God's appearing to his people. And the ultimate fulfillment of that,

from our standpoint, is Christ's return and resurrection. And then the atonement

is the cleansing and the judgment of sins. And for us, it's the final judgment and cleansing of

all people. So there's a correlation of what was told and what was followed and where we're at

in the congregation of the redeemed. And the tabernacle, the Feast of Tabernacles,

is God dwelling with his people. We'll talk about each one of these. And this is the new creation.

God dwells with mankind. He dwells with us. So that's a breakdown of the three that we're

looking at. Now, I'm going to do a little bit of review for some of you weren't here. We talked

about these things. We're going to reiterate just about two pages. In the pagan nations of Greece

and Rome, festivals were established by man to find favor with the deity, to prevent disasters which

were accompanied by gluttonous eating, drunken brawls, and promiscuous acts. That's the way the

Greeks and the Romans did it. The pagan prophets spoke against these festivals because of their

outcomes. It was just a big free-for-all party. The Israelites, however, when they celebrated,

were limited by the sanctity of the festival. God put out the requirements. And there was no

hint in the Bible of any orgies, wilderness, wildness, or promiscuous acts connected with

these pagan festivals in the Near East. So it was different than what was expected.

The biblical concept then, on the other hand, is the exact antithesis. Not only were there festivals

commanded by God, and we covered that in previous chapters, but represented the Israelites

with the remembrance of his provision for them. Everything turns back. He wants everything

to turn back to him, again, being the center. These celebrations then, where people were gathered

in the temple, are testified by Isaiah which says this. The Lord's people will sing as they do

when they celebrate a religious festival at night. The Lord is Israel's mighty rock,

and his people will be as happy as they are when they follow the sound of flutes

to the mountain where he is worshiped. So there is a precedent there. So the rejoicings were for

the whole community. That's where slaves, again, the commands are not forgotten by the Levites,

the priests. They participated. The proselytes, the orphans, and the widows all participated

in these festivals. So now a question that we may have. What motivates or what motivations lie

behind these pagan festivals in Greece and Rome? What were the people trying to gain or avoid

through them? What do you think that the ultimate desire was? So they had all these things.

So why did they do them? Just for an occasion to get drunk?

Were they trying to get attention from these Gods that they were supposedly worshiping?

Okay, you're on the right path. So they got attention, but for what purpose?

They got to increase their harvest and so forth.

All right, that's okay. That's good for increase in harvest.

Well, it's the same thing. They gain favor by the Gods for whatever they want.

Whatever particular God, there are numerous Gods. So I think it is each God for a particular

The dozens of them.

Yeah.

So they wanted favor. All right, okay, let's take a look up here. This is what we have.

We have a situation whereby we have pagans believing in Gods and they all thought that

they were fickle and easily angered. That kind of goes along with what you said.

And the festivals were designed to what? Gain favor from the Gods. We said that.

Avoid disaster for the crops, famine, plague, natural calamities, and manipulate divine power.

I hope that we don't all come to God for that. I don't think we do.

But that's what they did. Offering rituals were meant to coerce the Gods into acting favorably

for them so that they would have good harvest. So next question. How does worship driven

by fear differ from worship rooted in the trust and obedience of God? What's the difference?

So we know what worship is like here. We have a little bit of a window and understanding what

the worship was there. All right, let me help you out. Fear driven worship then seeks to avoid

punishment or disaster. I don't want to do that. I don't want that. So we're motivated to do it.

It is motivated by anxiety about an unpredictable deity or often focuses on rituals meant to appease,

manipulate again, or bargain for favor. Now what's life like for us? Trust and obedience driven

worship flows from the confidence in a faithful and revealed God. It is not an attempt to control

God, but a joyful response to who he is and what he's done for everyone. That's so clear cut. It's

so pure in the sense of what real worship is. There's nothing in the back of your mind when

we come together on Sundays, when you are in your tabernacle, in the car that you drive,

when you're at home doing your devotions and you worshiping. Yes, there are needs that we have.

And the Lord wants to be our burden bearer, but we don't come to him and try to manipulate

to get what we want. It is a situation whereby we see him, we trust him, and we give to him that

worship because he deserves it. Then how can how can worship remain joyful while still relevant

and holy? How does that equation work? Gail? Because we're joyful because of who God is.

So that's going to keep us reverent and holy because we're just praising him for who he is

and worshiping him for who he is and what he's done. All right. Okay, how about this?

Again, when we keep things God-centered rather than emotional-centric. I've been into churches.

There was one church that I was sharing with over in the Ukraine when I had a special assignment

over there for our college, and we used to go out on weekends and preach. And I will tell you,

it was like confusion. I got up and there was people running around the whole place and

screaming and yelling. I thought, oh, Lord, how can I get my attention on you? And I did. I worked

through it, but it was chaos. There was not order there. And I'm not saying everything has to be

quiet and pompous, but I'm saying that God is a God of order and not emotionally driven.

And then when worship leads to obedience, that's where we're at. Okay. If these festivals are not

secular then that we're talking about these three, what are they? Well, first of all,

God requires purity. He wants our attention. He wanted their attention. He commanded them to

purify themselves before the time of their celebrations because he doesn't commune

and dwell with sin. So now there's separation and he wants them to be pure so that they can

fellowship. Okay. That's the first one. The second one is he commanded the sacrifice of a sin offering

and he warned the people to stop sinning. In other words, give the sacrifice, stop sinning,

do better, and walk the life that I have given you. And obviously we know that that didn't work.

That's why we live in the New Testament to begin with. Second, when they gathered at the temple to

participate in hymns, prayers, sacrifices so that the place, the site, and the service

would influence the sight and the hearing with a spirit of reverence to God. What's that sound

like? That sounds like what we have on Sunday, right? I mean, you ever get lost in worship Sunday

morning here and you open your eyes and people are enjoying the Lord. There's singing. There's

worship. You're hearing the corporate body of Jesus Christ, the church, participate in worship.

That's edifying and lifting up. So that's what another cause was. These feasts repaired

the divide between the perfection of God on one hand and man's fallen image and posture on the other

because of why. Original Adam and Eve sin. And look what happens now. We had communion in the garden.

There was judgment because they didn't listen. There was then separation where he told the woman

in childbirth that there would be difficulty and the man in the field would have all kinds of

weeds. There was rebellion and now there is redemption. So we're on the other side of that.

Okay. So the Feast of Tabernacles looks like this. We have different categories,

Old Testament offering, meaning for Israel, the fulfillment in Christ, and the meaning for

Christians today. So again, the trumpets blast. That was part of it. That's a wake-up call.

Christ's call to repentance and readiness is what he wants from us. And then what we

want to do out of that is live, alert, expectant, and spiritually awake. That's what our goal is.

Now the burnt offerings that were part of the Feast of Tabernacles. Again, total surrender,

giving them what was required. The priest, again, would then work on their behalf.

Then where it is fulfillment in Christ is Christ's full offering of himself,

not of bulls, not of goats, but of himself. And then that offers ourselves as living sacrifices.

That's what we do. We want to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice to him.

Then the sin offering, which was participated in cleansing from impurity. Christ removes the sin,

which is the fulfillment in Christ. And the meaning for Christians today is repentance,

holiness, and renewed conscience. We remember we talked about that some longer periods of time.

The grain and drink offerings were gratitude and provision. Christ is the bread of life,

coming over to the new side of the new covenant, and worship filled with thanksgiving. And that's

what we participated in. And lastly of the sacred assembly, they gathered to seek God,

and the church is, not as, is his gathered people. And the commitment is united in worship

and obedience. So that kind of fulfills the Feast of Trumpets. So now let me ask a question.

Why do we think God chose a trumpet blast that's so far blessed, rather than a feast meal

as this central figure for this day? Why was that? What historical perspective did we have?

Do we have? Yes. Yeah, Isaac being offered up by Abraham. Okay. Yeah, with the horn, with the

ram that was caught in the bush. Okay, you're warm, you're getting there a little bit further.

All right, how about this? It means to awaken or summon, indicating a season of self-examination

leading to the day of atonement. So there's a whole lot of things such as the one Chris gave us

about the meaning of waking up and the understanding of who we use. All right,

second question. How does the trumpet imagery relate to Christ's return and the resurrection

of the dead? How might that look like? What does that look like? Gail? It's like a heralding

of his coming. Yes, look at the scripture up there. What does it say? Lord himself will descend

from heaven with a shout and the voice the archangel with the trumpet of God. Yeah.

I was also thinking about when they circled around that city of Jericho. Yes. And blowing

the trumpets at the end. Yeah, that's right. And the walls came tumbling down.

So there is a declarative in all that. All right. The trumpet signifies divine authority

and kingship. As Christ's return, the trumpet declares that Jesus reigns openly and finally.

What is now confessed by faith will then be revealed by sight. Isn't that wonderful? The trumpet marks

a moment in the transformation of the whole kingdom of God from faith to sight for us who

believe in him. Isn't that wonderful that we have that? Okay. Let's look at the Day of Atonement,

the second feast. The Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, is the holiest day of the

Jewish calendar. It's observed in the 10th day of Tishra following the Feast of Tabernacles.

Remember, we saw that. It was just right in that small period on that graph.

Again, the primary focus is the Atonement of sins and the renewal of one's relationship with God.

So we have the attention. We're looking up. We're waiting. And now he's asking us to,

what, to bring Atonement for the sins that we have. The high priest entered the Holy of

Holies to make Atonement for all the people. We know the story. The bull was sacrificed.

The two groats, one of which was sacrificed, the other one, hands were laid on, and the goat

was, again, told to leave the camp or pulled out of the camp and walked out in the wilderness

as our sins left. Uh-oh. Okay. All right. Okay. So question. As it relates to sin,

what is wrong with this picture? What we talked about. What's missing there?

Is the obvious.

Is there satisfaction of sin? No. No. What brings the satisfaction, the completeness of redemption?

Yeah, of the blood of Jesus. Hebrews 4.10, it is impossible for the blood of bulls and

goats to take away sins. All they were ever doing is being reminded how bad they were.

You got to bring the sacrifices. How'd you like to live back then?

Getting beat on the head all the time. That's what I think.

This shows that the sacrifices symbolically covered sin, but could not fully remove it.

That's the big difference. Aren't you glad you're on this side of Calvary?

And then last, the atonement addressed the separation from God caused by sin, but not its removal.

Praise the Lord that he came and he removed all of our sins. Now, the atonement versus

the removal of sin. Let's talk about the two. The atonement rituals foreshadowed the ultimate

atonement through Jesus Christ. We said that. The high priest sprinkled the blood. We talked

about that. To cleanse the sanctuary, to atone for the sins, to cover the sins. And God only

covered their sins, which had to be repeated again and again and again, unlike our relationship

where he forgave us all of our sins. He removed them as far as the east is from the west,

once and for all. So God gave us and took away our sins by what?

His sacrificial death, which was complete, it wasn't locking in anything,

and the permanent removal of our sins. Not for a year, not for two years, not that we have to go

back, but permanently. As high priest, he confessed the sins of the nation over the scapegoat,

identifying Israel's failings and seeking forgiveness. So now the question isn't that.

What might be the significance of the atonement to us as Christians?

I think we said it. Jesus will judge all people. Everyone will be judged.

Thank goodness that we're on this side of Calvary. What about those people that we pray

for that don't know the Lord? They will be judged also. It's a harsh reality to think that

at some point in time there is a white throne judgment that will bring about the evidence of

people's lives and be judged accordingly in First Peter four five, but they will have to give an

account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. All right, let's not be afraid of

judgment. Let's make a thought process out of this. For Christians, God's judgment is a moment

to embrace his justice and mercy for all that has gone before us rather than fear of punishment

because of what he did. It is a confirmation to the believer that there is hope and faith in Jesus.

Finished work. Second Corinthians five ten says for we for we must all appear before the judgment

seat of Christ so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body

whether it is good or bad. Revelation 20 verse 12 and I saw the dead, the great, the small,

standing before the throne and books were opened. This is judgment day. Another book was opened

which is the book of life and the dead were judged according to what they had done

as recorded in the books. Matthew 25 21 well done good and faithful servant that's where we come in

enter into the joy of your of your reward. This verse describes what the final judgment and the

accountability of each and every individual. And then Matthew 25 31 through 46 I kind of compiled

them. Jesus speaks of separating the righteous which are the sheep from the unrighteous which are

the goats. Very interesting how at the end of the day there is a division there's no division now

there's people that go to church yes like us we assemble there are other people that do not

there's no great division it's all humanity but it's someday there's going to be a divide

separating those that are in Christ against those that are not his own. These verses show

us that the people are accountable to God for their actions and will face judgment accordingly.

All right so here we have the feast of the tabernacle let me see how we're doing on time

7 36 that's good all right the feast of tabernacles also known as the feast of booths.

Now what's the booth all about well we'll explain that it's a joyful significant biblical feast

it's a time now of celebration as we celebrate Sunday morning in our closet in our car it

communicates it commemorates God's provision and practice during the Israelites journey through

the wilderness and after their exodus from Egypt. It begins in the 15th month of Terish

typically in September or October again that type of harvest that we talked about and lasts

for seven days followed by an additional sacred assembly on the eighth day.

Okay so what's that look like families construct temporary shelters or booths out of palm leaves

and so forth made with branches and leaves decorated with fruit and symbols of harvest and

they actually live in those for that period of time everyone sleeps in the booth symbolizing

their dependence on God again remember how he always brings them back to his provision

he always brings them back to where he wants them to be it's like us I mean we can go and

do our things and God brings us back oh you know through our the spirit working in our conscience

yeah coming back to the Lord in the various aspects of our busy lives and then the first

and eighth day were observed as sacred assemblies focusing on worship offering sacrifices and waving

palm branches and symbolic worship before the Lord and then question what may be the significance of

the feast of tabernacles to us as Christians what might that look like again it's a time of joy

it's a time of celebration and equate that to

the

Jesus will dwell among us as king he range with righteousness and truth when he dwells among us

think about that we have faith to believe that he's with us and innocent around us

but at some point in time we will see him he will dwell within our midst

that's just such a wonderful aspect of Christianity that we have yet to to experience

so the feast of tabernacles broken down like this is the tabernacle purpose

is thanksgiving for provision what is the fulfillment in Christ Christ is the bread

of life and the meaning to us as believers God is still our provider we don't assume anything

we thank him for all the things that he gives us and they were to remember God's care what's

that translated into in Christ Christ shepherds his people and for us we depend on him daily

not to thank him and walk your own way and come back when you're in need

but to thank him in communion and keeping that relationship warm and close not sporadic and

cold and hot God dwelling among his people God again tabernacled among us that's what the

scripture says and then God's presence is now in us think about that

Israelites never had that they had the presence of God in the tabernacle in the temple and that's

where they went but as we go in our life we take the Lord with us he indwells us and then joyful

worship the Holy Spirit produces joy and then worship is a celebration that we have Sunday mornings here

as we worship together and the hope of the future kingdom God will reign on the earth

and we wait we anxiously wait for his return all right let's equate these three things that we've

talked about the feast with Christmas and I forgot my Bible I was going to read a passage but

we'll have to do without that if any one of you wants to read about Mary and when they were

beckoned to go to Bethlehem and she bore the child in a manger the animals were there

the the wise men were there and the shepherds were there we could close with that but if

the feast of tabernacles in other words is what God speaks that's what he does

yes Christmas is God's announcement through angels proclaiming to the shepherds good news

of great joy functioning like a heavenly so far see there again that's that

declaration that we talked about and then Christ's birth is God's announcement that the king has

arrived and salvation has begun not to cover the sins not to remind you that you're a sinner

but to take away your sins and live a life of fulfillment with him and the feast of

atonement God saves so first he speaks then he saves Christmas is the beginning of that

announcement Christ must be born in order to die for humans so he took on flesh that's a tough thing

to get your mind around Christmas answers the question of Yom Kippur which always raises this

how can sinful people dwell with the holy God they can't and so he made that provision for us

that we can Christmas proclaims God has provided his own sacrifice once and for all that we're

part of his kingdom forever and ever and then the feast of tabernacles is God dwelling among us

God speaks God saves God dwells if you remember that you've learned a lot about the the feasts

that we have talked about over the past couple of weeks Christmas is the fulfillment of tabernacles

God dwelling with his people not in a tent but in flesh isn't that wonderful and Christmas

declares that God is one with his people Matthew 123 Emmanuel equals God be with us or God with us

so Christmas now marks the most astonishing thing that has ever happened as this moment of

redemptive activity comes to earth it's the most significant thing you know I don't know

where you're at but it's hard for me to define which holiday or which commemorative period of

time I like better is it Easter because he's risen or is it because he was born I always in my mind go

over that I'm kind of inclined the fact that Easter is the finality of everything I mean it's now

that he he lived the life as a servant he comes back as a king he was crucified and now he's

living isn't that wonderful forever and ever and then God entered his own creation he came down to

us you know we didn't have to go up to him we don't have to go to a tabernacle

we don't have to go over to Jerusalem spend money to go over there and travel

give gifts he's down with us I'll get out of your way here

Christmas is then the proof that God saw human beings suffering

the appropriate time in history where he realized he knew the beginning from the end that it was time

for him to come the confusion of the Roman Empire suppressing his chosen people the burdensome of

taxes and the fighting among the priests as we saw now is the time that I'll come in confusion

and he entered the human darkness and God continues to keep his promises on our behalf

not once not then he came as a suffering servant he was returning and he's here as king of kings

and Lord of Lords so he has promised that and finally Christ is the fulfillment of God's

redemptive pattern isn't it amazing he wrapped it all up into one when it says that God knew the

beginning from the end he always starts at the end of things and he works back

instrumentally bringing things about that coincidentally as the world says have all come

together there's no coincidence in God he's planned this thing out and God makes himself

accessible to us and now reveals his heart to us isn't that wonderful all right anybody have that

passage okay

well whatever you feel is pertinent to our conversations

okay Matthew two now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the

king behold wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying where is he who has been

born king of the Jews for we have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him

when Herod the king heard this he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him and when he had

gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together he inquired of them

where the Christ was to be born so they said to him in Bethlehem of Judea for thus it is written by

the prophet but you Bethlehem in the land of Judah are not the least among the rulers of Judah

for out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel then Herod when he

had secretly called the wise men determined from them what time the star appeared and he sent

them to Bethlehem and said go and search carefully for the young child and when you have found him

bring back word to me that I may come and worship him also when they heard the king they departed

and behold the star which they had seen in the east went before them till it came and stood over

where the young child was when they saw the star they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy

and when they had come into the house they saw the young child with Mary his mother and fell down

and worshiped him and when they had opened their treasures they presented gifts to him gold

frankincense and myrrh then being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod

they departed for their own country another way

I can continue to think about what God did in the midst of all that chaos he came

he was evident he was seen he was affirmed and now he lives and what's wonderful about that

so many people paint a picture of wonderful Jesus the Savior the humble servant yes he is all that

but he is king of kings and Lord of Lords that's the thing that we have to get in our mind he's a

conqueror of the foe that seeks to devour our life he is the one that brings life to us

on a daily basis he's the one that enables us to what live a life unto him it's because of him

you know and and and yes in many instances we have seen visions of angelic beings but we have yet

to see him reign on the throne as someday we will that is the fulfillment that's why it's so

interesting to see how he did all this magnificently and spelled it all out and if you look and you

you take all the generations I think in Matthew where it starts off from from the beginning

and goes through the genealogy of where Christ was in the midst of all that and how that came all

about not one person not one hiccup not one error and all that I mean it's amazing we have

to thank the Lord for his goodness any testimonies of his goodness in your life and then we'll close

well first of all I want to thank the Lord that I'm here and I don't know whether it's

worth saying or not but it was a miraculous thing if you notice anything about hospitals and

operations they're months to take and people wait and wait and wait so I had this hernia I went in

Wednesday before Thanksgiving the day before Thanksgiving the doctor said yes you have a

hernia you need an operation I said when well that's going to be in January no it's going to

be February no okay well anyway it's six eight weeks out of the Lord then he said you know he

said I have an opening Friday morning which is after Thanksgiving he said I don't know whether

you'd be ready or not I said I'm ready so you know I went in Friday morning at six and I was eating

lunch with my wife at 11 30 in the afternoon in the morning I tell you it was just like okay well

it was like going to Walmart and picking a number you know okay I'm next so that I am

thankful for that really and and just to give you a quick insight into that it takes a lot

to give Joni the comfort that she needs and the options that she has and for me to replace that

but with my daughter-in-law our friends and everything just and and our home group everything

just fell into place in about five hours that it was executed from beginning to end

so I just thank the Lord for that so that's my personal thank you in this season anybody else

oh nobody's thankful okay all right okay you want to go home it's cold yes oh ginger good good good good

we've been having some some challenges with our adult daughter she's 34 and if anyone who has

had adult children sometimes they start thinking differently of you yes for one reason or another

they know better and whatever so we decided to kind of rather spontaneously go on a cross-country

trip and and in October and we found ourselves and Reno where she was and we were able to spend a week

and her just coincidentally her schedule opened up where she was actually really going to be

there at that time too so God really just put us together and and it worked out and we were able to

make great headway with our with our relationship with the aid of a her therapist who happened to

have a window opened up spontaneously happened happened happened it all everything just sort

of like happened together and now fast forward you know two and a half months later it's

Christmas week she's coming out and um she's we're actually going to be out of i think

hopefully after Rachel our answer being answered being answered yeah okay got it got it but all

right has uh been kind of working hey man good to hear that good deal anybody else

all right okay we got two people two people out of all of you that are thankful that's good

okay well Lord we do thank you for the opportunity to see even in your feasts and your

distinguished planning how you have brought that to bear on the new testament and what the finality

of your message is all through the ages you have worked you have opened you have closed doors

and you have brought people that wouldn't normally come to you that now speak of you because of your

wonderful plans thank you Lord and we pray especially for our relatives and those that

we know during this season that they will stop and realize and think about Christmas in its real

sense give them an opportunity Lord this week next week Lord to open themselves to you

work in all the prayers that are behalf of the people here our brothers our sisters our children

sons daughters aunts uncles mothers fathers Lord we want to be rich in the sense of our family

heritage coming to you as a family and following you Lord that's such a blessed thing to experience

so now we thank you for this time together we ask that you would bless as each person

goes their own way in the name of Jesus everyone said amen

thanks for joining us at Lansdale Life Church as we praise God and discuss his word

don't forget to join us for worship live Sunday mornings at 10 a.m eastern

on YouTube be blessed and have a great day