According to His Purpose

Well, a special thank you to the Festival Choir. What a beautiful piece. Thank you so very much for that and for the hard work and the dedication that you all do, getting ready to serve God through song. I jokingly told Mr. McGuire that I could just come up here and save us a lot of time today by saying ditto and then just walking off the stage. It's fascinating to me sometimes how God works in that with similar veins of inspiration.

So some of what we've looked at and some of what we've gone over this morning will be covered again. So, you know, as a teacher, though, we recognize the importance of repetition and the importance of repetition as a learning tool, because it is one of the best learning tools out there. It is one of the best learning tools out there. It is one of— Well, there must have been an audible sigh of relief from the men in the cabin as the wheels of this modified B-25 bomber left the flight deck of the USS Hornet.

The plane began to climb into the sky unhindered. Inside, Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle and his crew had just successfully proven that a medium-range bomber modified properly could launch from the deck of an aircraft carrier, a feat up to that point that had never been done before. But shortly thereafter would be replicated 15 more times as the remaining bombers and their crews followed after. The Doolittle raid was underway.

It was April 18, 1942, only four short months after the attacks on Pearl Harbor and the devastation of the Pacific Fleet located within its shores. In Doolittle's mind and the mind of its superiors, the counterattack was long overdue. So they hatched a bold plan utilizing this relatively new B-25 Mitchell bomber and the 17th Bombardment Group, housed actually just northeast of here in Pendleton, Oregon, was where that bombardment group was located. And they were the ones that knew this plane better than anyone else in the world.

They'd been flying it previously. They understood how it worked. They understood what it did. They had experience. They'd been tested. They'd been proven. Collectively, they had hundreds of hours behind the stick of this plane. But despite all of that experience, none of them were prepared for what Doolittle had planned. None of them. And so as the preparation for this plan unfolded, they began to realize that launching an attack from the mainland United States was not a possibility. They didn't have the fuel range.

Not to mention they'd be attacked before they ever reached the Japanese mainland. But no one would ever expect anyone to try to launch a bomber off of an aircraft carrier. It had never been done. There were honestly some doubts that it could even be done. But that's exactly what Doolittle had planned. The men of the 17th were very comfortable in their skills behind the stick of the B-25, but they were used to taking off in 1,000 feet at over 100 miles per hour.

You can imagine the look on their faces when the flight instructor told them, you're going to have to have that. You've only got 500 feet, and you'll only be traveling 50 miles per hour when you take this bird off the ground. By all odds, even to men at that skill level, this is impossible. So they gutted the planes. They stripped the planes entirely. They ripped the guns out of it. They took the communication systems out. They removed the bomb sites, added fuel capacity so they could extend the range.

But the most important modification that they did was reduce the amount of time it took them to get the bird in the air. And that took practice. Lots and lots and lots of practice. There's actually kind of an interesting aside. The record of the group was pilot Don Smith, who flew bomber number 15, who once managed to get that plane off the ground in 287 feet. Managed to get it up off the ground in 287 feet.

But what was once considered impossible was now a very real possibility. Doolittle had the right planes. He had the element of surprise. And most importantly, he had the right men for the job. Doolittle chose his crews very purposefully. He needed men who could hold up under pressure, who knew the machine that they were flying and the workings of that bird like the back of their hands.

Men who were capable of completing the mission without any concern for their own personal safety. They were hand selected. They were hand picked. You know, that word has only been around for a couple hundred years. The etymology dictionaries put that use of the word hand picked back somewhere between 1825 and 1835. But the concept has been around for millennia. The online British dictionary defines it as selected with great care as for a special job or purpose, aka chosen.

And you know, we need look no further than the pages of our Bible to see this concept in action. God's been using it since the very beginning. We're not going to turn to these individual scriptures. I'm going to go there. You can jot them down in your notes if you'd like. Genesis 6 is where we're going to begin. And we're going to start by looking at a few brief examples of people that God has chosen throughout history and the purpose that he chose them for.

Genesis 6 is where we're going to begin. In Genesis 6, we're going to take a look at the example of Noah. We're going to look in verse 12. It says, So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with violence through them, and behold I will destroy them with the earth.

Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. Verse 18, But I will establish my covenant with you, your son's your wife, and your son's wife's with you. God chose Noah very specifically. Genesis 12, we see God's choosing of Abraham. He says, Get out of your country, Genesis 12, verse 1, From your family and from your father's house to a land that I will show you, I will make you a great nation, I will bless you, and I will make your name great, and you shall be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Little further on, we see the calling of Moses to go and deliver the Israelites through God's intervention from Egypt. Exodus 3, verse 7, says, The Lord said, I've surely seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hittites, and as we sometimes joke and say, all the rest of theites.

But now, therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppressed them. Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. Over and over and over again, when we look at these initial accounts, we see, I will send you. I have chosen you.

Through you, I will bring forth my people. Over and over we see God specifically choose individuals for very specific purposes in order to achieve the purposes that He had in mind. Rather than the modern era of the church, it is no different. Let's turn over to the book of Ephesians. Let's go to the book of Ephesians. We'll take a look at Ephesians 1, and we'll see the words of the Apostle Paul here to the church at Ephesus. This idea of the selection of whom God has chosen.

Ephesians 1, and we'll pick up the account in verse 9. We'll read through verse 11. Ephesians 1, verse 9. Ephesians 1, verse 9 says, Having made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth in him.

Then we get to verse 11. In him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined, according to the purpose of him, who works all things according to the counsel of his will. New leading translation, which we've been there a little bit today, puts it a little more manageably, says God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. And this is the plan.

At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ, everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God. For he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan. Now we understand this predestination concept is simple chosen. God has picked specific individuals to work with, offered them an opportunity. We see this idea corroborated in Romans 8. It makes a very similar point that ultimately we have been chosen. We've been selected according to his purposes, according to his plans.

You know, traditionally, and we asked it this morning, traditionally, we've always asked the question, why are we here? Why are we here? What are we doing here? Why are we in this room? Why are we sitting together as brethren? Why are we here in Redmond, Oregon in 2015? And as I got to thinking about that this year as I prepared this message, what if the answer to that question is simpler than we've ever really considered?

What if the answer to that question is that we are here according to God's purposes? That ultimately his plan is in motion, and we have a very specific part to play in that plan. You know, when you look at it like that, the question becomes so much less, why did I choose to come to Bend, Oregon?

For the sisters, for the hiking, for this, for that. And it becomes a lot more about what God's desires are for us, as those that he has handpicked over the next several days of the Feast of Tabernacles. So what is it that we can do in order to ensure that his purpose for the Feast of Tabernacles for us is achieved?

To answer that question today, we're going to examine three things that we can do in the time that we have remaining in Redmond, Oregon that will help us to rejoice in the meaning and the symbolism of these days, that will help us to ready God's people for the role that they will play in this end-time work and ultimately in the millennium, and what will reflect the character of God, our Heavenly Father, to the people of this city.

Title of the message this morning is called according to his purpose. You know, when you look at the symbolism of what these days represent, when you look at what the Feast of Tabernacles represents, we can see three big things that God has really called us to do at this time.

We are to rejoice before him with one another. We're to ready ourselves. We're to get ourselves prepared for our role in the millennium, as well as our role in this end-time work. And very importantly, we're to reflect. We're to reflect, and we'll explain that as we go. But today, with the time that we have left, we're going to look at these concepts in order to explore what we as the Ekklesia, those whom God has handpicked at this time, really what we can do with our time at the Feast of Tabernacles that will ultimately achieve God's purposes.

So, let's start by going over to Deuteronomy 16. Let's go to Deuteronomy 16. We'll read a very well-known section of Scripture, Deuteronomy 16, that really discusses these holy days, our purposes, why we're here. Deuteronomy 16, and we're going to go ahead and pick the account up in verse 14. Deuteronomy 16, and we'll pick it up in verse 14 as they specifically in this section discuss the Feast of Tabernacles. Deuteronomy 16 and verse 14, And you shall rejoice, as was mentioned in the announcements today, you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates.

Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce, in all the work of your hands, so that you shall surely rejoice. And we see Deuteronomy 16, 16 was read the other day in the Offertory. But we see also in Leviticus 23 verse 40, and we won't go there for sake of time, we see it describes the making of the Lulav in this idea that we rejoice before God for seven days at the Feast of Tabernacles.

Two passages, three references to rejoicing. In just two passages, three references. In fact, out of the three pilgrimage vessels that are listed in this section, Passover the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Tabernacles, in those sections there is no mention whatsoever of rejoicing with regards to the Passover.

There is one mention of rejoicing with the Feast of Weeks, but three separate commands to rejoice regarding the days that we are here to commemorate and to celebrate. That's more than any other festival in God's Holy Day plan, and that's not the only two places that it's mentioned. Notice 2 in verse 14 of Deuteronomy 16, which we just looked at, verse 14, and you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, but it doesn't stop there.

Your male servant, your female servant, the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, the widow, all who are within your gates. Everyone in the nation of Israel was to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, which begs the question why? Bags the question why? Why were they to rejoice in this time? Why this festival? Why not others? What was so special about the Feast of Tabernacles? The Jewish people referenced this time of year. They call this time of year the Feast of Tabernacles.

They call it the season of our joy. They call it the season of our joy. And Mr. Kubik mentioned the other day in his message, this is so much more than an ancient Israelite harvest festival. This is so much more. But it does have a background in that. It does have a background, and there was definitely a lot for them to be joyful with in that time.

If you think about it, this was the end of the agricultural year. At this point in time, all of the crops had been gathered in, and Israel could step back, and they could look at what God had done for them over the previous year. They could see the storehouses being full. They could see all the blessings that God had provided them. The crops were put away. The workers could relax. They could relax, and they could rejoice. The work was done. They could enjoy themselves.

They could rejoice with no distractions, no thought of, oh, I've got to go back, and I've got to harvest all these fields. I've got to do this. They could relax, and they could rejoice before God. They could, as we might say in our vernacular, they could enjoy the fruits of their labors. They could enjoy the fruits of their labors. Now we in the churches of God today take that command to rejoice very seriously. The Feast of Tabernacles is a highlight of our year.

It's a highlight of our year. But often when we think of rejoicing, I think sometimes we look at that through somewhat of a worldly lens. We're flush with cash. We're staying in a beautiful location, a really nice hotel, a really nice house. And if we're really not careful, the Feast of Tabernacles begins to look a lot like an episode of the lifestyles of the rich and famous, and sometimes maybe a little less as a festival of God. But we are here for a very specific purpose. We're here for a very specific purpose. Let's go to Deuteronomy 14. Just a couple pages over from where we are right now.

Deuteronomy 14. And we'll pick it up in verse 23. Deuteronomy 14 verse 23. Deuteronomy 14, 23, it says, And you shall eat before the Lord your God – speaking of the things that they brought with them, the food and the tithe – and the place where he chooses to make his name abide. The tithe of your grain and your new wine and of your oil, of the first born of your herds and your flocks, and for what reason, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always.

In our modern era, we tithe on our income, we bring our second tithe with us, we rejoice with that tithe. But the goal of that rejoicing is to learn to fear the Lord always. We recognize, and it was again brought out this morning in the first message, that our rejoicing is not primarily physical. And it can be if we're not careful. But we know this isn't a vacation.

We know we're here for spiritual purposes. We know that we're here to learn more about God's coming Kingdom, the millennium, and about our place and our role in it. We have the opportunity to share our joy with others. We have the opportunity to share the blessings that God has given us with others, to show love for our brethren, to serve our brethren while we're here, to learn about, again, that mindset of God as we see opportunities where we're able to step in and we're able to help.

But you know what that does? It requires us to look past ourselves. And I'll be the first one to admit I haven't always done a great job of this at the Feast of Tabernacles. In fact, Deuteronomy 14, 26, contains a passage that I have personally used in the past to justify some pretty ridiculous purchases while I've been at the Feast. Deuteronomy 14, verse 26, just a little further down from where we are right now.

Deuteronomy 14, 26, And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires, for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice you and your household. Hey, yo, whatever your heart desires. You know, as I prepped for this message, I actually started to compile a list.

I was going to tell on myself. I was going to compile a list of all the things that were kind of frivolous Feast of Tabernacles purchases. And as I compiled that list and my countenance began to fall, I decided, you know, we don't need specific examples. We'll just leave it at it was pretty ridiculous. But you know, in the past several years, I've come to recognize that God absolutely does allow you to buy whatever your heart desires. After all, I mean, Scripture says exactly that, doesn't it? But his question to us through that principle is, what does your heart desire?

That's the question. That's the principle behind Deuteronomy 14.26. Is it material things? Is it electronics? Is it jewelry? Is it the things that Matthew 6 mentions that moth and rust destroy? Thieves break in and steal. Or are we buying up treasure in heaven using those blessings that God has provided us to grow in godly character, to love and to serve our brethren? You know, if we look at our income as being God's income and that we are just merely stewards of the blessings that he has provided to us, aren't we all here on our Father's dime?

Aren't we all here on our Father's dime? Should that change our outlook and should that change our focus? Let's go to James 1, verse 27. James 1, verse 27 says, Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. We are an undefiled religion to take care of the fatherless and the widows as we have opportunity. We need to keep our eyes open. We need to be looking out for individuals that are here, maybe on their own. Maybe perhaps they have an unbelieving spouse or a non-believing spouse that's just not here with them.

Maybe they're on their own. Maybe they have a spouse that's recently deceased, a person who may only be the only person in their entire family who has been called. The feasts can be tough for individuals that are on their own, especially if they're on a fixed income. Brethren, we have the ability, as Mr. Walker mentioned in the announcements, we have the ability for the family-helping family.

We have the opportunity to take people out for dinner. We have an opportunity to invite people to come along on our activities to get to know one another. We'll talk about that in a second. Our meals here at the feast are a lot less about the food and a lot more about the conversation. Our golf games at the feast are a lot less about the score and a lot more about the fellowship with our brothers and with our sisters.

Our games and activities are so much less about who wins and more about the people that we share them with. We can't afford to lose sight of that because one of the other aspects of the Feast of Tabernacles is preparing God's people for their role within that millennium. We have to ready one another. We have to help prepare one another. We have to work together for that common goal. But we can't do that unless we get to know one another.

So the second thing we're going to look at today is we have to ready one another. We have to ready one another. I don't know if you've really considered it this way. Mr. McGuire mentioned it a little bit today. In this room right now sits a unique combination of people that will never occur again. Will never occur again. In this very same way, in this room today, this combination of people will never occur again. We may run into one another. We may interact with one another at different feast sites or at church activities, Winter Family Weekend, Northwest Weekend. You know, wherever we may go, we may interact with one another.

But we'll never be together like this again for these eight days in this room ever again. That's a very unique opportunity. It's a very unique opportunity. He's called us together for his purpose. These eight days are an opportunity we can't afford to let pass us by. Let's go to Romans 8. Let's go to Romans 8.

Romans 8, verse 14. Romans 8, verse 14. See the Apostle Paul here talk about a little bit of this idea of adoption into the family of God. Romans 8, verse 14 says, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our children that we are children of God.

And if children then heirs, heirs of God, enjoin heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. Rather than there was a song in the seventies, maybe the early eighties, I wasn't around, but it was, We are family.

You've all heard that song. Brethren, we are family. We are the children of God. We're brothers and sisters in the faith. All around the world during these eight days, God has called His children to the biggest family reunion the world has ever seen, and they don't even realize it. All over the world, people are gathered as God's family to worship and to rejoice before Him.

Brethren, how well do you know your spiritual family? How well do you know your spiritual family? You know, the past couple of days, we've sat in the same hall for services. We've frequented many of the same dining spots. We've attended some of the same activities. You know, we had opportunities to go and to spend some time with one another. And we mentioned earlier, we have a number of opportunities available to us at the Feast of Tabernacles.

How many times has one of the opportunities that we've had been the chance to get to know one of our brethren? Have we missed the opportunity?

Let's not miss another. Brethren, I've done this before once at the Feast. I think it's been about four years. Let's do it again. I'm going to give you about a minute. I want you to turn to the person next to you, to the person behind you, to the person in front of you. I want you to introduce yourself. Introduce yourself to the person sitting right around you. Have a chance to get to know one another, but I'm bringing you back in a minute.

You've got about 30 seconds. You've got time for one more. Introduce yourself to somebody else. 30 seconds. Alright, brethren, if I could have you back up here in three, in two, and in one. Back up here. Thank you very much. You guys aren't bad. My seventh graders don't do as well when I turn them loose. They don't. They don't. But, brethren, obviously a simple introduction isn't going to be enough to really get to know one another.

Even going to Sabbath services every day for two hours, a Sabbath service isn't enough to get to know one another. So I'm going to give you a challenge. I'm going to give you a little bit of homework before the week. I know, I know, I know homework. I know. But before the feast is over with, you've just met somebody new. Before the feast is over with, seek out some way to spend time with that person. Go have a meal together. Go bowling! Do people still bowl? I love bowling.

Go bowling! Go take a hike. Not like that. Sorry. Go for a hike. Let me use the right verbiage. But spend some good quality time with that person. Spend some good quality time with them. Get to know them better. Because, you know, brethren, before we know it, as Mr. McGuire again mentioned this morning, this feast will be over before we know it.

We're going to wake up one morning on the last great day and we're going to blink and go, it's what? It's over? This is it? I've got to go to work tomorrow? What happened? It's over before we know it.

All of this unique opportunity we have with all of us in this place at this time, it will be gone. And we don't want to let that opportunity pass. Use it. Get to know one another. We have to get to know one another because we are all ultimately members of the same body. Let's go over to 1 Corinthians 12. 1 Corinthians 12.

1 Corinthians 12. We'll see this concept. This is, again, one of those well-known passages, but I want to go through a couple things. And I want to give you maybe a different analogy, too, that hopefully will help to solidify it. Because it literally dawned on me about a week ago, as I was teaching in my classroom, that it was a perfect example of this very concept. 1 Corinthians 12. We're going to go ahead and read verses 12 through 13.

12 through 13. 12 through 13. For as the body is one and has many members, all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves are free and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

For in fact, the body is not one member, but many. You look at the human body and you look at how it works. It's such a fascinating design, how God has put this system together that all works together to make this operate. All of the members of the body of Christ are necessary for the body to function properly. The body requires eyes, it requires ears, it needs a mouth, it needs spleens.

And I think, you know, we intuitively know that. I think we recognize that. I think academically we can say, yeah, that's the case. But let's take it one step further. I'll give you another analogy. My seventh-grade science kids right now are studying cells. For some of them, it's the very first time that they've ever come across the idea that there's little teeny tiny things that are inside of the other little teeny tiny things.

And inside of those teeny tiny things are even more teeny tiny little things. And so as we're studying it, it has different functions of these organelles that are part of the cell. From the nucleus, which kind of controls everything, all the way down to these little itty bitty ribosomes that make proteins. Every one of the organelles in that cell has very different functions, very different jobs. No two organelles perform the same job. They all do different things. Each of them are important, each of them are responsible, ultimately, for keeping the cell running like a well-oiled machine.

Proper cell function requires them all to work together, requires them all to work together. And brethren, what this tells us is that everybody in this room has a role to play. We all have a role to play.

We all have a job to do. And more importantly, not only that, that your job, whatever it may be, is mission critical. It's mission critical to the overall health of the body. We've been called together according to His purposes. You have an important role in this work. We all have to work together. We're all called to serve together in order to prepare and to ready ourselves for our roles in the coming Kingdom of God. The last thing that we're required to do, the last thing that we're, it's not a full requirement, but it's a really good idea, is to reflect.

And we'll get into what that means here in a second. But what I want us to think about is we're all gathered around the world in a variety of places, wherever God has chosen to put His name. For us, it happens to be Redmond, Oregon. But for a number of our brethren around the world, it might be Panama City Beach. It might be Ocean City, Maryland. It might be La Longue. It might be Accra. It might be Port of Iarda, Sabadia, Davao City. The list goes on.

We have brethren meeting in hundreds of cities around the globe for all the same purpose. They're all there for the same purposes, to come before God and to rejoice as they've been commanded, and to learn to fear the Lord always. Now, in the cities where they've arrived, maybe it's a small feast site.

Maybe there's only, you know, a couple hundred people. But some of the larger sites, maybe there's more than a thousand that are in that feast site. Will the people in the cities where they meet notice their presence? Will it be noticed? Will they make an impact in that community? Brethren, will we make an impact on the people of Redmond, Columbia? Will we make an impact? Let's turn over to John 8.

Let's go over to John 8. John 8, and we're going to pick it up in verse 12. We'll see the words of Jesus Christ here as he taught his disciples a very important lesson.

Not just for them. That's what I love about Christ lessons. Not just for them, but for all of us today as well. John 8, and we'll pick it up in verse 12. John 8, verse 12. Jesus spoke to them again, saying, I am the light of the world.

He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. He told his disciples that he was the light of the world, that those who followed him would have the light of life. In Matthew 5, he tells his disciples that they're the light of the world, that their example should shine to the people around them. It should shine to the people around them. You know, as followers of Christ, we're like polished mirrors.

We're like polished mirrors to reflect his light to the world around us. He provides the light. We provide the reflective surface to be able to shine that light. If we're dirty, if we're smudged up, if we're not clean, we're not bright, our ability to reflect his light is impeded. And the individuals that we come across, some of those who we interact with out in the community, they may not have the opportunity to receive the light of God in a way that they could have otherwise.

You know, Mr. Walker mentioned opening night. There was a write-up in the local business newspaper about our group, a couple-page spread talking about why we're here, what we're doing. And you know, in a way, you think about it, the local businesses got that. I mean, they got that. That's a good thing, right? They know we're coming. Brethren, Redmond is watching. Redmond is watching.

Every interaction that we have with individuals outside of these walls, even within these walls, members of the community, is an interaction where we have an opportunity to shine the light of Christ's example. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17, refers to this idea in a slightly different way. Let's go over there. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17, as we visit our final scripture for today. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17, reads, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. A new creation! Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.

That is, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Verse 20. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God were pleading through us, we implore you on Christ's behalf to be reconciled to God. We see that in many ways we have been chosen as God's ambassadors to this planet. For his kingdom, we are the people who are giving that example to the world of what God's way looks like.

We've been called to be representatives of Jesus Christ, ultimately representatives of God the Father on this earth. And we represent a way of life to a world that lives in complete opposition to him. And that world, as a whole, is watching our every move, waiting for us to slip up so they can say, Gotcha!

Gotcha! I knew you were a hypocrite! Right? You've seen it all the time, all the time. The world is watching for those sorts of things. As ambassadors, do we interact with one another in a way that's representative of the character of our Lord and Master? In the restaurant, when the food's late, are we getting upset, pounding on the table, going, Come on, I got somewhere to be. Let's go, let's go, where's my food? About time! You know, are we reacting in that way? Are we interacting in that way?

When we go to various activities, how are we representing ourselves and ultimately our Father? As mirrors, are we smudged? Are we maybe not reflecting the light as effectively as we could? How many of you are from California? Anybody in and around Mojave Desert? No, right? Nobody was out there.

There's a really neat solar installation just outside of, between Barstow in Las Vegas, out in Nipton, California. And it's out in the middle of Mojave. It's called the Ivanpah Solar Collection Facility. And basically what it is, it consists of this large solar tower and thousands and thousands and thousands of these mirrors arranged in concentric circles around this thing. And all those mirrors can be controlled and they can be moved.

And the idea is, as the sun tracks across, the mirror shifts and keeps that light focused on that one spot at the top of that tower. When the mirrors are focused properly, when they're all where they're supposed to be, pointed in the direction they're supposed to be, all of them doing the same thing, working to the same goal, the top of that tower gets thousands of degrees of temperature. It heats the water, makes steam, makes electricity enough to power about 78,000 homes.

But you know what? One mirror here, one mirror there won't do it. One mirror focused on the top of that isn't enough. Two mirrors, three mirrors, even a hundred mirrors isn't enough. They all have to be focused in the right direction together. You know, we're to be lights in the darkness, but can you imagine the beam of light that we can shine in the darkness with all of our mirror's focus in the same direction?

Can you imagine the beam and the strength and the intensity of that light driving back the darkness? Brethren, the world is in desperate need of hope, desperate need of hope, some beacon of light in the darkness. You know, symbolism of these days, the millennium and the coming kingdom of God, it really represents the only real hope that mankind has. In the absence of God, mankind will put their hope in all sorts of things, in themselves and their own abilities.

They'll put that hope in their human government. They'll put that hope in the collective good of what is humanity. And every time they put their hope in those things, they will be let down and it will fail. Mankind's only hope is in God. James Doolittle needed very special men for the mission that he led. Not just any person would do, they needed a very specific skill set. They were hand-picked. Likewise, brethren, God the Father has chosen you.

He's chosen you. And sometimes, then there too, I may look and go, I don't get it. Why? So did many of the ones that God chose throughout the ages. But I'm of the least of the least of the least of the tribes. Who, me? You want me to go talk to Pharaoh? I'm not your guy. But God chose you. He looked down upon this creation. He's seen something in you. He's seen a potential. And He's extended an opportunity to you. He's given you a calling. He's given you a special privilege of being a part of bringing that hope to this world. A chance to serve and to teach those in the millennium.

As a result, we have an incredible opportunity at this piece of Tabernacles. We have the chance to rejoice before God. We have a chance to be thankful for the blessings that He's given to us and to share them with one another. We have an opportunity to get to know one another and prepare one another and spur one another on to good works. We also finally have the opportunity to be a representative of God our Father to the city of Redmond, Oregon. A chance to shine that light and that love of God into the community. So, brethren, why are you here? Because you have been called according to His purpose, and we have a job to do.