Latest / Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ) / Equipped 2026: Ladies: "Looking Up with Kathy and Carla" by Kathy Pollard and Carla Moore

Transcript

Equipped 2026: Ladies: "Looking Up with Kathy and Carla" by Kathy Pollard and Carla Moore · Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ)

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  We really are grateful that you're all here.
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  We are recording an episode of our podcast, Looking Up, and we thank you for joining us
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  while we do that.
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  To those who are listening in, this is a podcast for Christian women, and it's our objective
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  – everybody wave, say hi – it is our prayer that with each episode we just remind everybody
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  to keep looking up no matter what's going on in the world around us.
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  Everything's going to be okay because God's in His heaven and all's right with the world.
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  My name is Kathy Pollard and with me is Carla Moore and we're your hosts.
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  And today, before we chit-chat very briefly, we are going to be talking about things that
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  we find interesting in the book of Genesis.
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  So for everybody listening in, we are at the Cumberland Choice Church of Christ equipped
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  workshop and we have a bunch of beautiful ladies here with us.
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  The theme of the workshop is a study of the book of Genesis and so we each picked one
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  thing that we find…
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  What?
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  You picked three?
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  That's not what we said.
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  Quick three.
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  We're going to talk about a few things that we find interesting in the book of Genesis.
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  So before we get into that, I do want to give a shout-out to the person who came the
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  farthest.
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  Jennifer Eskew came all the way from Alaska just to hear us.
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  We appreciate you coming all this way to be at the equipped workshop and to all of you.
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  So one or two things interesting that we can chit-chat about.
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  We're on a time constraint, which we're not used to.
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  I don't really appreciate it at all, but what's up with you?
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  Well I can't believe I forgot to tell you this last week.
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  Can you all hear us back there, by the way, in the back?
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  She said we didn't need it, but you can hear us back there, sort of, we'll try to
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  talk loud.
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  So I can't believe I forgot to tell you last week that I'm practically famous because
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  I know Victor Glover.
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  Do you all know Victor Glover?
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  Did you watch the Artemis?
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  No, I met him one time, but it was so cool because he's a member of the church.
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  I think probably everybody here knows that, but he was a member at Lake City Church of
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  Christ, and we did a marriage seminar there about 15 years ago, and it was so cool because
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  then he knew he was going to be going into space.
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  I don't think he knew which mission it was, but it was so cool to see him later on being
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  interviewed.
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  He was just, I thought he was a great representative for God, but no, I'm not famous because of
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  him.
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  But you know, it's kind of cool to know somebody famous, and since I've talked to him for like
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  maybe, I don't know, five minutes, 15 years ago, but I just thought it was really neat.
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  I'm practically famous.
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  See you there.
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  See you there.
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  You guys get to come in here and get a Looking Up flag bag, and you can get her autograph
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  afterwards.
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  I think I'll do it.
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  Well, you think that's something.
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  You know, last time we chatted, we were in Idaho, so we were there for a couple more
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  days, and we're getting it back.
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  Well, anyway, I forgot to tell you last week that we stayed at an Airbnb that had a full-size
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  kitchen with all kinds of mugs, real coffee mugs, you know, that you can choose from,
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  and the one that Neal chose to drink out of every single day was a Gilmore Girls mug.
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  Yes, we wanted it together.
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  John would have no idea.
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  Yeah, so I thought that was really important and almost as exciting as what you just shared.
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  I have exciting personal family news.
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  Do I have daughters-in-law in this room?
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  Yes.
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  Can I?
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  Let's get one of them.
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  Are both of them, or you can bring us one?
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  Okay.
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  Okay, so Janelle is expecting, and they found out that they're having a boy.
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  So we did learn this morning.
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  Yes, and the name is really special, and I cried, and I'll probably cry again.
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  And then also, Carl and Emily are also expecting in December.
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  So we're going from five to seven this year.
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  Y'all have zero to 60.
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  We do.
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  That's great.
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  That's awesome.
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  We're happy for y'all.
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  Any other news before I want to get into ours?
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  Let's not take any more time.
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  Multiple topics.
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  Yes, multiple.
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  You go first.
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  All right, I'll go first.
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  Okay, so let me see the time.
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  All right, what time should I switch over to you since you have three?
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  Well, it's all related.
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  Okay.
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  Just do 16 minutes each.
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  I chose, from Genesis, I love the idea that we were made to worship.
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  And when you think about the first instance of somebody offering a sacrifice right out
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  of the gate, of course, we have Cain and Abel, Abel's sacrifice being accepted by God, and
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  the whole idea that he brought his very best in that sacrifice.
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  But also, in Genesis 8, we have Noah's altar right after they were delivered from the flood,
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  his praise to God and his thanksgiving.
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  We have, in Genesis 22, and I love this one, do you remember God tells Abraham to sacrifice
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  his son, and do you remember what Abraham says in the very beginning of that chapter?
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  He says, y'all stay here.
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  Well, not y'all.
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  The lad and I will go yonder to worship, and then we will return to you.
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  You know, that's the very first time the word worship is used in the Bible.
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  And what a chapter, you know, for that to appear in.
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  What a beautiful chapter.
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  Well, in Isaiah 43, verses 20 and 21, God says that we were made to worship, and he
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  talks about us being his people, his chosen, and that he made us to praise him.
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  And so, when I was thinking about these instances of worship, and there are more, in the book
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  of Genesis, but I read this really interesting thing that I never thought about before, and
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  some scholars say that we have glimpses of it even before we read about Cain and Abel
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  in Genesis chapter 4.
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  And they explain that when the Bible says in chapter 2 of Genesis that God placed or
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  put Adam in the garden, that that word put is not just your regular word for, you know,
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  I'm putting something here.
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  That it's a different word.
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  There was another Hebrew word for the regular word, but the word placed or put, depending
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  on your version, is the same word used when they would describe what they would put in
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  the tabernacle for, you know, the sacrifices and the things that they would do.
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  And that when God gave Adam the task, in chapter 2 verse 15, you know, it says that put him
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  in the garden to work it and to keep it.
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  And that those words are also the same language and words used when they describe what the
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  Levitical priests would be doing in the tabernacle to work, to perform.
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  Numbers chapter 4 verse 26.
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  And, do you remember when the Bible says that God walked in the garden and Adam and Eve
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  were hiding?
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  They point out the fact that the fact that God walked in the garden wasn't the surprising
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  part, it was Adam and Eve's reaction.
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  You know, because something had changed.
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  Because Leviticus 26, 12 says, I will walk among you and be your God.
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  And we have multiple examples of these verses of God, you know, walking among his people.
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  So, it was their reaction after the transgression that was so noteworthy.
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  So, the idea is that God has always wanted to provide a way for us to meet with him.
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  And, come into his presence.
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  And, I think that really, you know, we see it all the way through.
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  Adam and Eve transgress, he starts working on a way to make that possible again, to bring
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  us back to him.
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  And we have all these opportunities to come together, to meet with his people, to be in
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  his presence because he loves us that much and wants to walk with his people.
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  And, I feel like I'm preaching instead of chatting.
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  Do you want to listen?
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  Okay, so, there are some really interesting worship words used in the book of Genesis.
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  And, I am no Hebrew scholar, but shakah is the one that means that physical act of bowing
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  down really low.
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  Abraham, in Genesis 18, 2, it says that he bows low to the ground.
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  And, that's that word, shakah, a very worshipful posture.
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  Can you spell that, shakah?
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  If it was a transliteration.
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  S-H-A-C-H-A-H, shakah.
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  Alright?
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  And then, this one probably sounds a little more familiar, hallel, from which we get the
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  word hallelujah, which does not appear in Genesis, but appears often in the Psalms.
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  And, a lot of those worshipful Psalms that use that word refer back to creation.
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  So, that's how I'm tying it back into Genesis.
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  And, that word means just to praise.
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  And, it carries with it the idea of celebration.
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  And, you can feel the burst and the emotion and the feeling in praising God.
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  And then, the last one is yadah, Y-A-D-A-H.
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  Yadah.
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  And, this is Genesis 29, verse 35.
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  And, here we have Leah.
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  God has just blessed her with her fourth child.
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  And, it's Judah.
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  And, the Bible says, Leah gave birth to him.
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  The Bible says, now I will yadah the Lord.
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  And, that word means to throw out your hands in praise and thanks.
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  So, you think about that posture.
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  And, a lot of the Psalms refer to that too, right?
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  I will lift up my hands to you.
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  That is yadah.
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  And, in fact, they name that baby Judah, which is Yehuda, which means praised.
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  So, I thought that was really interesting.
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  Psalm 63, verse 4, I will lift up my hands in your name.
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  So, there's all of these worshipful words used throughout the book of Genesis.
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  And, when we look at them, and we don't have time to look at every incident today,
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  but when you look at each individual scenario or account,
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  whether it's the actual act of some sort of sacrifice,
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  whether it's a word used in the language, like what Leah said,
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  the object of all of it is God.
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  And, He's at the heart of it.
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  And, He's at the center of it.
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  And, I started thinking about how, you know, in the New Testament,
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  we have that different word, proskuneo, to kiss toward or whatever.
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  It's the New Testament word.
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  And, you know how in the New Testament, we see a lot of this,
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  not just worshiping God, but how we lift up each other.
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  And, when we sing and praise, we're teaching and admonishing one another.
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  In Hebrews 10, we come together to encourage and admonish one another to love and do good works.
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  But, in Genesis and in the Old Testament, it's always God-centered.
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  And, He's the object of our praise.
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  And so, Revelation 4-11 really focuses on the heart of our worship being how we see God.
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  And, you know, whatever comes to your mind, whatever comes to your heart,
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  when you're thinking about worship and coming into His presence to praise Him,
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  affects your worship.
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  Your view of God affects your worship.
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  And, I think that's one of the really fascinating things that we see throughout the study of Genesis.
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  I'm pausing in case you want to say something.
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  No.
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  Okay.
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  Do you remember when Jesus said,
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  These people honor Me with their lips, but their, what?
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  Their heart is far from Me.
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  And, He goes on to say, teaching His doctrine, the commandments of men.
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  And, He says that, He calls this,
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  In vain do they worship Me.
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  In vain is empty.
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  And so, a heart far from God, then, would lead to empty worship.
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  And, I'm sure, you know, if we're honest,
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  there's probably been times for all of us when we've felt that way.
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  You know, that we're just going through the motions.
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  We just don't, we're not feeling it.
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  You know, it's that kind of, I'm just here in body only, in presence only.
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  But, my heart is not in it.
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  And, I think there are some things that we don't do when we don't feel like doing it.
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  You know, sometimes I just don't feel like washing the dishes.
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  And, if I leave them there until the next morning, it's not great.
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  But, it's not the end of the world.
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  Sometimes, I don't feel like working out.
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  Most always, I never feel like working out.
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  And, in those things, you know, we understand from those little easy examples,
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  that when we do the discipline of doing it, we're happier about it.
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  You know, it's much nicer to come downstairs the next morning to a clean kitchen.
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  You feel better if you actually do go through and do the workout.
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  But, they're so insignificant.
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  But, think about, is there a matter of discipline when it comes to bringing our heart to worship before God?
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  Even when we don't feel like it.
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  And, that's really what I wanted to kind of camp out on and for us to chat about.
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  Jeremiah in Lamentations 3 verse 41 says,
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  Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven.
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  And, I think that with that kind of heart posture, you know,
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  preparing for it maybe the night before, the morning of,
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  praying about it, whatever we need to do to accomplish this eagerness.
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  That's what I hear in the text.
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  Let us lift up our hearts and our hands and worship our God.
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  And, I thought, what does that look like in worship?
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  What is a heart?
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  Jesus says that there are people whose hearts are far from him.
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  And, that leads to empty worship.
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  So, what does a heart close to God look like in worship?
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  And, certainly anticipation.
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  You know, we see in many of the Psalms, O come, let us worship.
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  We're going to look at Psalm 95 here in a second.
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  It looks like preparation.
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  Think about Abraham in Genesis 22.
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  He had to prepare to obey God in that sacrifice.
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  And, it looks like adulation.
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  And, I thought about David.
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  All the singing that he did.
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  And, all the admiring of God that he did.
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  I lift up my hands towards your most holy place.
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  David said that.
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  But, there are times, I think, that we struggle.
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  And, there are times that we just don't feel like it.
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  We just don't feel like worship, worshiping God.
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  And, I am going to let you talk for a second.
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  Well, I was trying to look.
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  Is it Ezra who prepared his heart to know God?
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  And, was kind of wondering, too, if you had practical tips for preparing your heart for worship.
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  Because, you know, if you have a fight on the way to worship when you're driving sometimes.
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  I mean, that's never happened to me, but probably.
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  I've had that.
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  And, you know, then your heart is focused on what you've been fighting about.
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  Or, trying to get the kids ready, or whatever it is.
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  And, so, maybe, I don't know if you have some practical tips to prepare your heart.
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  But, that might be something we can talk about in a group next week.
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  Well, you know, this sounds really petty.
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  But, so, Neal, you know, on those rare occasions that we get into a little tip on a Sunday morning.
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  We have always sung in the car on the way to worship.
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  And, we started that when our kids were little.
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  And, just kind of kept up with it.
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  I love that about y'all.
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  Well, thanks.
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  Because, sometimes, Sunday mornings can be a little, even without kids.
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  And, you know, we're kind of, and then you get in the car and he wants to sing.
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  And, I'm going, you know, I just kind of look out the window for a minute.
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  And, like, give me a second, you know.
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  And, in my mind, I'm going, you just want to sing.
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  Because, you're going to have to get up there and preach.
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  And, you want me to be smiling at you instead of scowling at you.
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  So, it's the very human, physical side of us that just gets in the way.
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  And, it's so easy to let that happen.
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  And, I think this consciousness of, it's the Lord's day.
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  It's not my day.
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  It's not my day to win an argument.
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  It's not my day to, you know, worry about what my husband's doing or not doing.
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  It's the Lord's day.
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  And, trying to discipline that kind of mindset as soon as you wake up in the morning.
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  And, to pray about it.
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  And, you know how they say, I don't know if you've heard this tip or if we've ever shared it on the podcast.
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  But, if you're in a bad mood, you know, they said that if you physically lift up your chest.
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  Right, everybody do that.
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  If you physically lift up your heart, that it automatically gives you like a mental boost.
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  Like, it automatically makes you kind of want to smile.
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  Just that physical act of raising up your heart in your chest affects you mentally.
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  And, I wonder if just, you know, Sunday morning, remembering whose day it is.
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  And, lifting up your heart physically.
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  And, then in prayer and thinking about something.
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  You know, maybe pick a psalm the night before.
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  There's so many beautiful ones that have that anticipation.
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  And, excitement for coming before the presence of God in worship.
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  Maybe choosing one of those to go over in your mind.
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  Or, pray, you know, while you're in the shower.
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  Or, talk about it.
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  Talk about that with your spouse instead of whatever you were grumbling about.
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  You know, what a beautiful occasion this is.
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  And, I'm not trying to make it sound so Pollyanna.
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  But, I do think it's got to be a discipline.
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  And, how, I don't want to get to the end of my life and realize or feel any kind of regret.
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  That I had all these opportunities to praise and walked in the door looking like this.
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  You know, so anyway.
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  That's brilliantly simple.
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  Just, today is the Lord's day.
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  You know, I'm not, I'm so proud of you for coming up with something brilliantly simple.
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  But, really, just the, maybe the night before to start thinking about that.
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  Like, tomorrow is not my day.
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  Obviously, every day is the Lord's day.
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  But, Sunday set aside.
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  But, just to be, to start preparing your mind to give that to God.
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  Give everything to God.
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  Whether it's your petty things that are going on between you and the husband.
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  Or, people at church that you may or may not have something going on with.
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  Just, that's very, that's very neat.
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  I've not thought of that before.
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  Okay.
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  Alright.
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  I'm just going to share really quickly.
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  Psalm 95 is a really good one.
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  The first six verses.
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  So, maybe we can memorize the first six verses.
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  Oh, come let us sing for joy to the Lord.
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  Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
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  Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving.
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  Let us shout joyfully to him with psalms.
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  For the Lord is a great God and a great king above all gods.
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  In his hand are the depths of the earth.
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  The peaks of the mountains are his also.
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  The sea is his for it was he who made it.
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  And, his hands form the dry land.
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  Come, let us worship and bow down.
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  Let us kneel before the Lord, our maker.
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  And, I love that one because of, you know, he uses all the different worship terms.
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  But, then there's that attitude of joy and thanksgiving.
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  And, he talks about why.
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  Because, because of God.
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  And, you know, he ties it all back to creation because he's our creator.
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  He has made all of these great things.
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  And, then the heart posture in there, you know, later on he says do not harden your heart.
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  Do not turn away from me like they did in the wilderness.
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  The result of that was they will not enter my rest.
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  And, you know, that's the challenge.
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  I think that's where the adversary comes in.
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  I think that's where the adversary comes in.
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  And, he wants us to have that numb, going through the motions, hard heart.
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  And, it robs us.
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  We rob ourselves.
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  We rob our families.
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  We rob our brothers and sisters.
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  You know, oh come and let us sing for joy to the Lord.
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  So, I thought really quickly, you know, what does that really mean for us today?
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  Let's bring back our zeal for worship.
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  And, the psalmist says if you would only hear his voice.
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  And, maybe there's all the distractions, all the worries and anxieties and other things
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  that we've got going on and commitments.
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  You know, those are all necessary part of real life on earth.
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  But, remind ourselves to hear his voice.
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  You know, and oh come before the Lord with joy.
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  Leah praised God after he gave her Judah.
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  And, Moses and Miriam both led that entire congregation of people in praise
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  after God delivered them from Egypt.
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  But, what if we began that praise and worship before the answer of prayer?
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  You know, God's already delivered all of us, right?
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  But, at the beginning of a trial, in the midst of the trial, you know,
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  like Job did, like Habakkuk did.
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  I think I wrote that one down.
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  Habakkuk said in Habakkuk 3, and this is before.
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  Remember at the end, Habakkuk says,
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  even if every grape withers on the vine, I'm still going to praise God.
• 23:27
  But, before that, he says, Lord, I stand in all of your deeds.
• 23:31
  God, the Holy One, his glory covered the heavens.
• 23:33
  His praise filled the earth.
• 23:35
  His splendor like the sunrise.
• 23:37
  Ancient mountains crumble and hills collapse, but he marches on forever.
• 23:42
  So, no matter what's going on in our lives,
• 23:44
  I feel like God, the message throughout Genesis in the very beginning,
• 23:49
  all the way to Revelation, Revelation 21, verse 3,
• 23:52
  the dwelling place of God is with man.
• 23:54
  He will dwell with them, and they will be his people.
• 23:57
  God's preparing a way for us to walk with his presence again,
• 24:02
  just like clear back when he placed man in the Garden of Eden.
• 24:05
  And, no matter what's going on in our lives, he is worthy of praise.
• 24:11
  And, he is our great God.
• 24:13
  So, that's all.
• 24:14
  What was it you said about entering his rest?
• 24:18
  Can you go back to that, and where was that in context?
• 24:21
  It was on the page before.
• 24:22
  I believe it's in that same psalm.
• 24:24
  Yeah, at the very end of Psalm 95.
• 24:26
  When he does that contrast, come, let us bow down,
• 24:29
  and then he says, do not harden your hearts, starting at verse 8.
• 24:34
  And, he talks about the wilderness, and then says,
• 24:37
  truly, they shall not enter into my rest.
• 24:40
  It made me think, when you were talking about that,
• 24:42
  is that talking about eternal rest?
• 24:44
  It probably is, but, you know, when we do these things
• 24:48
  that he's talking about here, it gives us rest here.
• 24:51
  Oh, yeah.
• 24:52
  And, peace here.
• 24:53
  It's not just about peace and rest in heaven,
• 24:55
  but peace and rest here on earth, which is like a bonus.
• 24:59
  It's a double blessing, a double promise,
• 25:02
  that what we have here on earth is, you know, it's not perfect.
• 25:05
  It's still this earth, but it's a peace and a rest
• 25:08
  that we can have because of what God promises us.
• 25:11
  So, I love that.
• 25:12
  Worship.
• 25:13
  Yeah, I think about those times.
• 25:14
  For me, it's mostly a Wednesday night,
• 25:17
  you know, especially in the winter when it's dark.
• 25:20
  I'm just in my pajamas right now,
• 25:23
  and I might not be feeling it, but, you know,
• 25:26
  nine times out of ten, maybe ten times out of ten,
• 25:30
  I'm just so grateful, you know.
• 25:33
  And, singing and spending time in the Word,
• 25:37
  spending time with God's people, you know,
• 25:39
  and going back home with that rest
• 25:42
  and that moment of peace, you know,
• 25:44
  carrying you throughout the rest of the week.
• 25:47
  But, I know for me, the struggle sometimes is,
• 25:50
  I'm a Christian, this is my obligation,
• 25:53
  this is what I'm supposed to be doing.
• 25:55
  You know, this is an expectation.
• 25:57
  And, when I was looking at all these things,
• 25:59
  I thought, this is such a different mindset.
• 26:01
  You know, this is a privilege and an honor.
• 26:05
  And, an occasion for joy.
• 26:08
  And, that's what I pray to bring back into my heart.
• 26:13
  And, I think we can also make that easier for others
• 26:16
  who are coming to make it a pleasant
• 26:18
  and a joyful, peaceful, restful experience for them, too.
• 26:21
  Yes. Okay. What three things?
• 26:23
  Well, they're related.
• 26:25
  Two or three things.
• 26:26
  Yeah, they're related.
• 26:27
  Okay, I want to know how many of you have seen
• 26:29
  the, I believe it was MGM production of Camelot,
• 26:33
  the movie from Camelot back in the 60s, I want to say.
• 26:36
  Raise your hand if you've seen it.
• 26:38
  Higher.
• 26:39
  Two or three people.
• 26:40
  Okay, there's quite a few.
• 26:42
  So, it was Richard Harris and, oh, Vanessa Redgrave
• 26:48
  and, oh, Frank O'Nero. Dreamy. He was dreamy.
• 26:52
  Well, I was about 11 or 12 years old when this movie,
• 26:55
  it didn't come out, it came out before that,
• 26:57
  but I was 11 or 12.
• 26:58
  My mom and dad had a VCR tape of it.
• 27:01
  And there were certain things that they would let me watch.
• 27:03
  You know, I didn't have to ask.
• 27:05
  That was an okay thing that they would let me watch.
• 27:07
  But it was just a beautiful movie, beautiful music,
• 27:12
  beautiful costumes, beautiful scenery, the way they filmed it.
• 27:16
  And I could still sing every song.
• 27:19
  I could sing along with every song still today.
• 27:21
  Did you ever see it?
• 27:22
  No.
• 27:23
  Okay, we're going to watch that.
• 27:24
  You're a lot older than me.
• 27:25
  So, the movie is about, it's called Camelot.
• 27:28
  And it's about this idyllic place called Camelot,
• 27:32
  the kingdom of Camelot, and King Arthur.
• 27:34
  And if you haven't seen the movie, you've probably heard of King Arthur
• 27:37
  and the Knights of the Round Table.
• 27:39
  And he supposedly came up with the idea of justice with the jury system
• 27:43
  and laws and the Knights of the Round Table
• 27:46
  and the Round Table, how everyone is equal at the table.
• 27:49
  And it's about this idyllic place called Camelot.
• 27:54
  And it's about how everyone is equal at the Round Table.
• 27:56
  There's no head at the Round Table.
• 27:58
  And Vanessa Redgrave, she was so beautiful in her costumes.
• 28:02
  And I just loved to watch the movie.
• 28:05
  Well, it was an arranged marriage between King Arthur and Guinevere.
• 28:13
  And they first met, they didn't know each other, but they fell in love.
• 28:16
  And so the first third of the movie is about them meeting and falling in love
• 28:20
  and dancing around the castle with all of their people that love them
• 28:24
  and they love them.
• 28:26
  And then Lancelot arrives.
• 28:28
  And he's handsome, and he's a knight, and he's brave.
• 28:31
  And he knows it, and he's very proud of himself.
• 28:34
  And he's not very humble.
• 28:36
  And he knows that he's not very humble, but he does it in a very humble way.
• 28:39
  So you can't help but like him.
• 28:41
  And of course he's handsome, like I said.
• 28:44
  And I'll show you a picture later.
• 28:48
  So in the movie, Lancelot and Guinevere, at first she hates him.
• 28:54
  But they start becoming attracted to one another.
• 28:58
  And sooner, as things go along, they're fighting attraction and then they give in.
• 29:05
  And they betray King Arthur.
• 29:10
  And I can still see Richard Harris' face, King Arthur's face, when he finds out
• 29:16
  about how Lancelot and Guinevere have betrayed him.
• 29:19
  All right, pause.
• 29:21
  I saw First Knight with Sean Connery.
• 29:23
  All right?
• 29:25
  And I can see his face when he's filming.
• 29:27
  Yeah.
• 29:29
  This one's better.
• 29:31
  So Arthur has to deal with it.
• 29:34
  Because he had created this justice and this law system.
• 29:38
  And he couldn't ignore this treason that happened.
• 29:40
  My point about all this, you're probably wondering,
• 29:42
  what in the world does this have to do with Genesis?
• 29:44
  When I was 11 or 12 watching this movie, that is when I wanted to stop.
• 29:48
  And I did.
• 29:50
  I would stop the movie at that point, where Lancelot and Guinevere
• 29:52
  have betrayed King Arthur.
• 29:54
  Because everything was ruined.
• 29:56
  They hurt King Arthur.
• 29:58
  They hurt themselves.
• 30:00
  They went their separate ways.
• 30:02
  The whole kingdom was divided and they were fighting about it.
• 30:04
  The whole thing was ruined.
• 30:06
  So I would stop it.
• 30:08
  Rewind it.
• 30:10
  Start over at the happy time.
• 30:12
  And it wasn't until, I don't know, four or five years ago,
• 30:14
  I was preparing a lesson on Genesis 1 and 2
• 30:16
  that this just occurred to me.
• 30:18
  That that's like the Garden of Eden.
• 30:20
  And God created this idyllic place.
• 30:22
  Eden.
• 30:24
  And he put these two people in there.
• 30:26
  And he blessed them.
• 30:28
  And he gave them things to eat and things to do.
• 30:30
  And they ruined it.
• 30:32
  Genesis chapter 3, verse 1.
• 30:34
  Now the serpent.
• 30:36
  It starts with now the serpent.
• 30:38
  And everything was shattered after that.
• 30:41
  So the definition of Camelot
• 30:43
  is a time or a place of idyllic happiness.
• 30:45
  And think about how God planted a garden.
• 30:47
  He designed these trees.
• 30:49
  Not just for beauty but for shade
• 30:51
  and for fruit, things to eat.
• 30:53
  He created birds of all shapes and sizes.
• 30:55
  All of these things that he did.
• 30:57
  Can you imagine having food
• 30:59
  handed to you by God?
• 31:01
  Can you imagine the taste of something
• 31:03
  that God gave to you?
• 31:05
  He did all of these things
• 31:07
  for Adam and Eve.
• 31:09
  And they threw it away.
• 31:11
  And don't you just wish we could rewind?
• 31:13
  We just want to rewind.
• 31:17
  Well,
• 31:19
  after that,
• 31:21
  and you kind of alluded to this
• 31:23
  and John did in his prior lesson,
• 31:25
  the rest of the Bible is about
• 31:27
  trying to put this back together.
• 31:29
  Not trying to. God does put this back together.
• 31:31
  But after Genesis 3, verse 1
• 31:33
  is about, like you said,
• 31:35
  God wanting to be with his people.
• 31:38
  And God wanting us to have a relationship.
• 31:40
  And so he devised a plan.
• 31:42
  And he enacted it.
• 31:44
  And so that's what the rest of the Bible is about.
• 31:46
  But still, we just want to go back.
• 31:48
  Rewind it and go back to where
• 31:50
  it was a time before sin.
• 31:52
  It was a time before Lancelot even came.
• 31:54
  And Guinevere and Arthur were happy.
• 31:56
  And I think about Adam and Eve
• 31:58
  and how they must have been happy
• 32:00
  and then the serpent.
• 32:02
  And then they gave in.
• 32:04
  They were only thinking of themselves when they sinned.
• 32:06
  And I think that's true of us.
• 32:08
  We're thinking of ourselves when we sin.
• 32:10
  Or we're thinking of what we want.
• 32:12
  We're not thinking about God's ultimate purpose.
• 32:14
  So do we betray
• 32:16
  God's goodness?
• 32:18
  Like Lancelot and Guinevere betrayed Arthur.
• 32:20
  And that may be a silly example,
• 32:22
  but when I was 11
• 32:24
  and I remember
• 32:26
  why don't I like this anymore?
• 32:28
  Why do I want to keep going back to the beginning?
• 32:30
  And it dawned on me as an adult.
• 32:32
  Maybe my parents knew that.
• 32:34
  Maybe that was why they noticed
• 32:36
  that I was stopping the movie there
• 32:38
  and going back and watching again.
• 32:40
  So that was the first thing that I wanted to bring up.
• 32:42
  The other two,
• 32:44
  John just stomped all over everything.
• 32:46
  If you were in his class before,
• 32:48
  we can just stop now.
• 32:50
  Because he said basically everything.
• 32:52
  But I want us to look at Genesis 1 and 2.
• 32:54
  What we can learn
• 32:56
  about the nature and character of God.
• 32:58
  From Genesis 1 and 2.
• 33:00
  Have you ever wondered
• 33:03
  why it seems like there are two creation accounts?
• 33:05
  We read Genesis 1
• 33:07
  and then he starts over
• 33:09
  and it's like, why is he telling this account again?
• 33:11
  Why are we talking about it?
• 33:13
  I thought he already created that.
• 33:15
  But let's look through
• 33:17
  Genesis 1 and help me
• 33:19
  look through and tell me
• 33:21
  all of the words that we see
• 33:23
  that God, things that God did.
• 33:25
  In Genesis 1,
• 33:27
  in the beginning, God what?
• 33:29
  And then in verse 3, God
• 33:31
  said.
• 33:33
  And then in verse 4, God
• 33:35
  saw.
• 33:37
  And then God called.
• 33:39
  Oh sorry, that's verse 5.
• 33:43
  We're still in verse 4.
• 33:45
  God separated light from day.
• 33:47
  Then in verse 5, God
• 33:49
  called.
• 33:51
  And it says that twice.
• 33:53
  And then in verse 6, God said.
• 33:55
  And then in verse 7, God made.
• 33:57
  In verse 8, called.
• 33:59
  And then in verse 9, God said.
• 34:01
  Verse 10, God called.
• 34:03
  And then there's another one in there.
• 34:05
  He saw.
• 34:07
  In verse 11, God
• 34:09
  saw.
• 34:13
  And then in verse 12,
• 34:15
  God, at the end, he saw.
• 34:17
  And then in verse 14,
• 34:19
  God said.
• 34:21
  And then in verse 16,
• 34:23
  God made.
• 34:25
  17, God said.
• 34:28
  And then in verse
• 34:30
  18, God saw.
• 34:32
  And in verse
• 34:34
  20, said.
• 34:36
  Verse 21,
• 34:38
  created. And there's another one in there.
• 34:40
  And then verse 22,
• 34:42
  God, okay.
• 34:44
  Whew, five minutes. Okay.
• 34:46
  You get the point. There's lots of things that God
• 34:48
  does in chapter 1.
• 34:50
  And there's five times that, depending
• 34:52
  on your translation, he created,
• 34:54
  he saw, he called,
• 34:56
  he made, he divided, he separated.
• 34:58
  But most of all, what you see in here is that God
• 35:00
  said.
• 35:02
  And with words, he spoke everything
• 35:04
  into existence. And let there
• 35:06
  be light. And that phrase,
• 35:08
  let there be, is just
• 35:10
  be. And what's
• 35:12
  funny about this, and I think it's funny, maybe I'm
• 35:14
  the only one, but that Hebrew word is
• 35:16
  hayah!
• 35:18
  So it's like God said, hayah!
• 35:20
  But let, it's like
• 35:22
  firmament, exist.
• 35:24
  Let others gather.
• 35:26
  He just said, and it happened.
• 35:28
  And I love that.
• 35:30
  We see how powerful God is
• 35:32
  in creation.
• 35:34
  But then in verse 27,
• 35:36
  we see more,
• 35:38
  a glimpse of the God we learn more about in chapter 2.
• 35:40
  Of course, these chapter divisions are made by man.
• 35:42
  And I would have liked
• 35:44
  for it to be divided between
• 35:46
  26 and 27, just because
• 35:48
  this lesson would have been in chapter 1
• 35:50
  and then in chapter 2.
• 35:53
  So God created man
• 35:55
  in his own image, the image of God.
• 35:57
  He created him, male and female.
• 35:59
  He created. So three times, he says
• 36:01
  created. And those are
• 36:03
  two words with the same root
• 36:05
  that means
• 36:07
  something different than that spoken
• 36:09
  command. God
• 36:11
  did this. He created.
• 36:13
  It's not just that he said
• 36:15
  spoke them into existence, but with
• 36:17
  man, he created them, right?
• 36:19
  And so, in
• 36:21
  chapter 2,
• 36:23
  let's look and see, and we have to go fast through here.
• 36:25
  Let me just tell you. And you can look and see.
• 36:27
  In chapter 2, we see the verbs
• 36:29
  that he formed,
• 36:31
  he breathed, he planted,
• 36:33
  he caused to grow,
• 36:35
  he put, and he took. And you talked about
• 36:37
  that. He blessed,
• 36:39
  he commanded, he brought the animals to man.
• 36:41
  He caused Adam
• 36:43
  to sleep. He took.
• 36:45
  These are very different than
• 36:47
  speaking, right? These are very hands-on.
• 36:49
  God is a hands-on God
• 36:51
  in chapter 2.
• 36:53
  It's interesting, too, in the
• 36:55
  creation of man, the word, and I don't know
• 36:57
  if I'm saying it right, but it's Y-I-S-E-R.
• 36:59
  It's probably you say or something
• 37:01
  like that. But it's like
• 37:03
  God forming him like a potter forms
• 37:05
  clay. And we see that in Isaiah
• 37:07
  64, 8. So,
• 37:09
  I just think it's so interesting
• 37:11
  that chapter 1,
• 37:13
  we see the power
• 37:15
  of God and the might of God and
• 37:17
  seeking things into existence. And then
• 37:19
  with the creation of man,
• 37:21
  his hands are used. He touches,
• 37:23
  and he puts, and he plants, and he breathes
• 37:25
  the breath of life into man.
• 37:27
  So, chapter 1 is the mighty, awesome power.
• 37:29
  Chapter 2, much more intimate and hands-on.
• 37:31
  And then the last thing that I wanted to mention
• 37:33
  is we learn about God by what he's
• 37:35
  called in Genesis 1 and 2. And John
• 37:37
  talked a lot about this in his lesson.
• 37:39
  First, all throughout
• 37:41
  chapter 1, he's called
• 37:43
  God, or depending on your translation,
• 37:45
  the word is Elohim.
• 37:47
  I mean, it will be Elohim in whatever
• 37:49
  translation in the Hebrew, but whatever
• 37:51
  translation you're reading, it may say
• 37:53
  something besides God. But God,
• 37:55
  he's Elohim.
• 37:57
  And Elohim is not so much
• 37:59
  just a name, but it's who he is.
• 38:01
  It's the might and
• 38:03
  the power of God.
• 38:05
  I'm not even asking if you have something you want to say.
• 38:07
  The creator, yes.
• 38:09
  It conveys like special reverence.
• 38:11
  It demands
• 38:13
  honor and majesty.
• 38:15
  But then in chapter 2, verse 4,
• 38:17
  what do you see?
• 38:19
  These are the generations of the
• 38:21
  heavens and the earth when they were created, and the day
• 38:23
  that the Lord
• 38:25
  God. So here,
• 38:27
  Yahweh, or depending
• 38:29
  on how you say it, I said Yahweh.
• 38:31
  John said it different now
• 38:33
  after his study this week.
• 38:35
  Yahweh Elohim,
• 38:37
  the Lord God.
• 38:39
  And while Elohim
• 38:41
  carries with it the majestic portrayal,
• 38:43
  Yahweh is the name of
• 38:45
  God, and it conveys this covenant relationship
• 38:47
  that he wants to have with his people.
• 38:49
  And so when he's giving
• 38:51
  this account of
• 38:53
  forming man, making man,
• 38:55
  that's our Lord God.
• 38:57
  That's the one
• 38:59
  that wants to have a personal relationship with us,
• 39:01
  and I love that. And the only other
• 39:03
  thing that I think is so fascinating
• 39:05
  is
• 39:07
  where he says that he took
• 39:09
  the rib from Adam.
• 39:11
  Where is that?
• 39:13
  He took the rib from Adam,
• 39:15
  and then the word that he talks about
• 39:17
  creating the woman,
• 39:19
  that word means built.
• 39:21
  In chapter 2, 22,
• 39:23
  he built woman.
• 39:25
  It's the only time that he uses that in the
• 39:27
  creation account. He built woman.
• 39:29
  And I think that's so neat too,
• 39:31
  that he took the rib from man
• 39:33
  and built woman.
• 39:35
  It's just interesting to me
• 39:37
  that here's these two accounts of creation,
• 39:39
  and one of them is very
• 39:41
  spoken and powerful and majestic,
• 39:43
  and then there's this very intimate
• 39:45
  God coming down to be with
• 39:47
  man, and forming man, and wanting
• 39:49
  to have a relationship with him.
• 39:51
  Just two chapters, and you can learn a lot,
• 39:53
  and there's so much more that we didn't even touch on.
• 39:55
  So we kind of touched on the same thing,
• 39:57
  because we were talking
• 39:59
  about worship, and you were talking about
• 40:01
  the God that we worship, and how powerful
• 40:03
  he is, but he wants that
• 40:05
  close-walking relationship
• 40:07
  with us, and the only thing I would say
• 40:09
  in your first point
• 40:11
  is that none of that
• 40:13
  caught God by surprise.
• 40:15
  He did create this beautiful
• 40:17
  place, and everything was idyllic and
• 40:19
  perfect, and man messed it up,
• 40:21
  but it's not like he didn't see
• 40:23
  that coming. He knew that was going to
• 40:25
  happen. He knew
• 40:27
  all of that was going to happen, but left us enough
• 40:29
  to do it anyway, and had
• 40:31
  the kingdom in mind from eternity.
• 40:33
  Unlike Sean Connery and the
• 40:35
  ancient God that you mentioned.
• 40:41
  Thank you guys so much. Usually at the end of every episode
• 40:43
  whoever is driving will ask the other
• 40:45
  person to stay afraid, so if you know what that
• 40:47
  is, go ahead and say it now.
• 40:49
  Until next time,
• 40:51
  He will be known.
• 40:53
  Thank you. Thanks for joining us.