The Comfort of the Eighth Day

Thank you, Mrs. Prater, for that beautiful piece. I've been just so thankful for all the special music we've had this feast, and especially on the safe day, as we enjoy God's, the last Holy Day of the season. So let me see, where am I at? Can't use that page. Can't use that page. No. I've got nothing left. So next year, we'll see you here again, so have a great night. I committed a rookie mistake as the schedule was being put together with Mr. Welch taking the first message. See, he's been up here before. He knows what happens on the eighth day if you don't go first, and so he gladly took that one and said, I'll get the rookie, have fun in the afternoon. Well, good afternoon. It is wonderful, again, to be with you as we are here celebrating the last Holy Day of God's annual feasts. We stand here as His people, continuing to follow through all the way to the end, as we represent what we'll do as we continue with this race of our life, finishing it all the way to the end as we each continue to go forward.

A few months back, our daughter Kelsey got together with a friend from school. This was in the summer, and as COVID came across, the nation school got canceled, and so she wasn't able to see her friends much anymore. They might have texted and done some other social media, but this was the first time she'd gotten together with this friend, and she asked if she could get together at a coffee shop in Brighton, Michigan. And we, of course, supported that.

She wore her mask. They had some coffee. They enjoyed the day. They met, as I mentioned, in the downtown area of Brighton. It's a small city in Livingston County, kind of stuck between Ann Arbor and Flint, Michigan. It's got enough going on that it's a nice city, and it's comfortable. We live just one city over in Howell, Michigan. But we dropped her off there, and they spent some time there at the coffee shop catching up. And as the afternoon went on, as their time together went on, they decided to kind of walk outside in the neighborhood.

They have a nice kind of downtown area with the restaurants and the shops and some parks. There's a beautiful mill pond that you're able to walk around. And as they walked in the middle of this downtown area, there's a small cemetery that's located there in this town area, and her friend invited her to go into the cemetery just to sit down. There are two friends. Kelsey and her friend are those who can enjoy a quiet time together.

I think some of us have those friends where you can be together, not really say a lot to one another, and just enjoy one's company. That's kind of the friendship that Kelsey and her friend has at different times. But this cemetery, before about eight years ago, was broken down. Weeds had taken over, had pretty much climbed all up the fences, so you couldn't see in or see out of the cemetery. And so the Brighton Area Historical Society restored the cemetery, and according to Kelsey, it's a nice little place, a quiet place just to kind of have some time to think. A few days after her time there at the cemetery and with her friend, Kelsey shared with us that she couldn't help in that time, but look at those grave markers in the cemetery, and to acknowledge that these were lives that were once lived.

She didn't know what they did. She didn't know their professions, how many children they had. She didn't know how their life ended. But it made her think of all these different lives, different dates that were on the cemetery markers, some going all the way back to the early 1800s, which means that some of them were born in the 1700s. This is quite an old historical graveyard.

She wondered the struggles they faced, the adventures they took, the things they overcame. In preparation for this message, I wanted to see if there's any information online about the cemetery, and I thought I'd share a few interesting aspects. The cemetery is noted as a registered Michigan historical site.

The first burial was in 1838, and the last was a World War II veteran whose ashes were interred in 1999. There are 47 veterans buried there, including 45 from the Civil War, and two from World War II. John McKinney, a slave who escaped and arrived in Brighton in the 1950s, he died in the 1850s, and he died in 1892, is also buried in this cemetery. Michigan's 11th governor, Kinsley Bingham, who was governor from 1855 to 1859, is buried in this cemetery. He was Michigan's first Republican governor. He spoke against slavery.

He championed education, and he signed legislation establishing an agricultural college, which later became Michigan State University. Of the 571 graves, representing 154 families, so a lot of families are born in this grave site in this cemetery, 99 are from children under the age of 10, a reminder of the hardships faced by early Michiganians. And some of the lives represented, as I mentioned previously, are from the 1700s, born in the 1700s, who died in the early 1800s.

They saw the birth of this nation with their own eyes. These are just some of the lives represented in one cemetery in southeast Michigan. There are countless cemeteries throughout this nation and world, all with similar lives lived, similar hardships faced.

Again, as Kelsey pondered these lives once lived, she couldn't help but wonder, who were these people? What did they do for their careers? What was life like during the time they lived? What were those hardships that they faced and the challenges they endured through? And also, fun times that they had. As Mr. Welch opened up his message this morning, something, this life is all there is to our existence.

This physical life that you and I are living today, that's all it is. Others wonder and search for the meaning of life. And a lot of people struggle to make sense of this human existence. And we each know how hard life can be for many and how hard life can end for some. There is so much hurt, so much pain for many who have lived.

In the time I have with you for this last message, I'd like us to consider the comfort that is symbolized in the eighth day. The comfort that is symbolized in the eighth day. A comfort that God will bring to all of humanity. If you enjoy titles, the title is The Comfort of the Eighth Day.

God has a plan that includes all who have never known God. We have a God who brings comfort or healing to the lives of man, both today and in a future time that will come. We have a Savior who gave his own life for the comfort or the healing of hearts. And God has given us his spirit for the comfort or for the healing of our minds.

And in my notes, we are going to turn to Revelation 21, but not yet because Mr. Welch used that one this morning. Isaiah 11, though. Let's go to Isaiah 11 as we open our Bibles this afternoon. We will review a few of the Scriptures Mr. Welch shared. But I'd like us to look at Isaiah 11. It fit nicely with the special music. Thinking of Jesus Christ as saying, I am here, here I am. Isaiah 11, and we'll start in verse 1.

Verse 6.

And a little child shall lead them. Can you envision this in your mind? Because those people in that cemetery in Brighton, Michigan have never witnessed this with their own eyes. They lived a life. They saw adventures. They faced challenges and never was able to see this. And you know what? Neither have we. But it's prophesied to come forth. Let's continue in verse 7. The cow and the bear shall graze. The young ones shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. None of this is making sense. But this is what God is going to bring to this earth. The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain. For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there should be a root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people. This banner before the people. He will go before us, and we will be recognized by that banner. For the Gentiles shall seek him, meaning anyone, not just those of the tribe of Judah, those of the tribes of Israel. The Gentiles shall seek him. Anyone who has ever wanted to have a relationship with God will have that door open. And his resting place shall be glorious. It's a beautiful passage of a future time to come that none of us have ever been able to enjoy. That those who are dead and resting, waiting for that resurrection, have never seen with their own eyes. There's comfort that is coming forth from our Heavenly Father and through his Son Jesus Christ that this world has never seen. Let's turn forward again to Revelation 21. Some of these passages, as I mentioned, will review a few, but we'll look at some others as we go through the message. Revelation 21, verse 9.

We read around these passages today, but this one brings some additional information. Actually, let's start. It's important. Let's go back and start in verse 4. Because just like this world and those who are waiting the resurrection has not seen things with their own eyes, there are aspects that we have not seen either, but it's prophesied to come. Revelation 21, verse 4.

There's comfort in the eighth day.

Continuing in verse 22.

The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need for the sun or moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. The nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor to it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day. There shall be no night there. This is odd for a city to not have the gates closed. Because at night, you don't know who's in the woods half a mile away. You don't know what enemies may be coming up against your city. So let's close the gates. Let's be smart. Let's be protective. There'll be no need for that. Can you imagine coming to the feast and leaving your garage door open the whole time you've been here? What about the front door? What about the front door wide open, where they can see that just the glass screen door or the glass storm door is all that's closing up the house? I've had that panic feeling. I don't know how many times, and you can check with my wife, that we're halfway to wherever we're going for the first night on the way to the feast, and I said, do you know if I close the garage door? And then I kind of fret with it for a while. I think of should I call the neighbor and have them, like, just peek around and see if it's closed or not? We won't have to worry about that. We won't have to worry about where our kids play down the street. Other people's children, whether they play. We don't have to worry about if we leave our lawnmower or our bike in the front yard overnight, because it'll be there in the morning. This is that world that is pictured here that we can't imagine with our own eyes as far as we've not seen it with our own eyes. We can only imagine all that God is going to bring to those who will be able to live during this time period. Let's read again Revelation 22 and verse 1 continuing. And He showed me a pure river of water of life, clearest crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. And in the middle of its street and on either side of the river was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. A comfort is going to come through this eighth day. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and the Lamb shall be in it. And His servants shall serve Him, and they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there. They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light, and they shall reign forever and ever.

There is a comfort that you and I take in knowing the plan of God. And there is also a specific comfort in knowing what this eighth day we are observing today means. We know from Scripture that death is not the end for those who have never known the one true God. We know from Scripture that death is compared to sleep, no pain, no consciousness.

One of the saddest things we see in life when a life comes to an end. And those with broken relationships never had a chance to reconcile that relationship. You've seen it on maybe a television program. You might have talked to someone. You might have gone to a funeral. Where there was a broken relationship between someone living and someone who had died. And that opportunity to reconcile never occurred. Someone, even a parent and a child, we've seen that from time to time, may have wanted to restore that relationship. But either never found the chance or never took the chance. And it could be a parent to a child or a child to a parent. Some of us have even been at funerals where a close relative recounts the dead relative's life. Not with the positive memories, but with the negative ones. Those are awkward moments to be part of a funeral. And some of us have been to a funeral where we could see the grief that was being expressed. Because reconciliation was never achieved between a family member. That pain that will never be healed in this physical life. Something that occurred 20 years ago, 30 years ago. And normally there was a desire for reconciliation, but either somebody didn't know how to do it, the time never presented itself in a way that would work, or they didn't know if the other person would receive them back.

Lives have ended, and when that reconciliation hasn't occurred in lives, there have been much pain and much sorrow, unlike the grieving of one that we have loved in the past. Some think that someday I'll reach out and work to find healing with a family member.

Sadly, that day never comes.

When that happens, there's often a tremendous amount of grief and pain, because the living person realizes the chance for reconciliation will now never happen. So much hurt. So much pain.

But we know different. There will be an opportunity for reconciliation again, because of what we're here remembering and symbolizing today, this eighth day. There is comfort that will come in the eighth day. There are many comforting aspects that are connected to this eighth day we are observing. I'll go through a few. You can think up others on your own. There are so many. I thought this would be a simple sermon to put together, and as I studied into the topic and considered, how much comfort will come from this day, this one aspect of God's plan. The list kept going and going and going. And so you're going to have your own lists of things that you'll consider and recognize. But physical death is not the end for those who never knew God. Maybe it was a tragedy of a premature death, an accident that took a life way too early. Physical death is not the end. That's a comforting aspect of this day. People with challenges will have challenges removed and to be healed.

Whether that be a physical challenge or whether that be a mental challenge, consider all the mental hurt that we see in the world around us. The anxiety, the depression, that will be healed to where that won't be a controlling factor of their life. They live this physical life to the end with anxiety and depression. And when they rise again in the resurrection, they'll have newness of mind.

And that weight that they carried through life will be lifted. And they will be like the paralyzed who will jump for joy because this weight won't hold them down anymore, this mental weight. There's comfort in the healing that will come to this day.

People with addictions and problems in their lives will be healed. No more need for Alcoholics Anonymous. No more need for therapy sessions. No more need for medications to battle these addictions. No more temptations of going down and finding your dealer and buying an illegal substance. No more temptation to go into somebody's grandparent's medicine cabinet and stealing their medication because you need your fix.

Healing will come in the form of addictions also being healed. That comfort will come through this day. As I mentioned already, broken relationships, both with humans and with God. Let's not forget, there are broken relationships that exist today between man and our God. Healing will come to those relationships. And we will see our loved ones, once again, who never knew God. Who may have had questions about God. Who pondered the meaning of life. Some of them might have saw us in church, knew that we were God-fearing people.

We read His Bible. We had a faith that they didn't have. But some, they died before we were called by God. We lived our life and that will be the last memories in their mind until they see us again. And they see us walk different. And they see us as spirit beings, different. And they say, what happened? What happened? There's comfort in the eighth day. Everyone who never knew God will have a chance to know Him. And we recognize that not all lives end in tragedy for everyone.

Some lives have been well-lived from this physical perspective. They lived, they worked, they provided for their families, they had grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They lived into an old age. They had everything surrounding them physically that they wanted. They had everybody surrounding them that they physically loved. And their life came to a peaceful ending. We know those accounts happen. But in those lives, something was still missing. And that something was knowing the one true God.

They will be given an opportunity to live even a better life than what they thought they could live on this earth. A more fuller life than they ever lived. You can put in your notes John 10 and verse 10. It's one scripture we'll look at. John 10 verse 10. The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy.

Satan the devil does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. But Jesus Christ says, I have come that they may have life. That would have been a beautiful phrase that just ended there, right? That I have come that they may have life. But he goes on to say, and that they may have it more abundantly.

The word abundantly has been a key word for, I think, all of us, this feast. Many different issues have arise. We've had messages. We've had abundance. We've heard this word mentioned quite a few times. What does this word mean? From Thayer's definition, abundant, abundantly means exceeding some number or measure or rank or need. To make it more accurately described. Over and above. More than necessary. Super added. I like that one.

Super added. Abundantly can also mean exceedingly abundantly, as we have seen in Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 20. Can also mean supremely. Something further. More. Much more than all. God wants to bring not just life to people, but he wants to bring it more abundantly. There is healing and comfort in the eighth day. Let's turn to Isaiah 35 and verse 1. I shared part of this passage with you on the third day of the feast.

But we have to go back to this passage as we consider the comfort that God is going to bring to this earth and to all of humanity who desire a relationship with him. Isaiah 35 and verse 1.

The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it. The excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the excellency of our God. Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are fearful-hearted, Be strong, do not fear. Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you. We'll be able to tell some of those that come up in the resurrection that they no longer have to fear others. Consider some of the aspects of fear that we've all experienced in our own lives. The fear that others have experienced of war.

Fear has been a prevalent tool of Satan the Devil to the point that God had to tell us, we don't have to be fearful. We're not given a spirit of fear, but a power and love of a sound mind. Fear has overwhelmed many people. It's been a challenge for you and me at times. God's going to bring comfort where there will be no more fear. Verse 5, The parched ground shall become a pool and the thirsty land springs of water, and the habitation of jackals, where each way there shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

A highway shall be there and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. I wonder what the speed on that highway is going to be. The Highway of Holiness. That's going to be a fantastic road to drive on. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool shall not go astray, no lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it.

It shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. This is describing, in part, that abundance that will come to the nations and to all who desire to know God. There is comfort in the eighth day. Those who live their last moments in awful situations will find healing and help. Those who died from war, whether it be a civil war or an international war, they live their last moments in war.

Some live their last moments in hunger, their bodies starving around themselves, their bodies having to eat itself to stay alive. The pains of not having food and of withering away were their last moments. Some who lived their last moments without hope, not knowing what their future held, not knowing what was going to happen.

Some lived their last moments in pain, whether it be in a hospital from an evil disease that was wreaking havoc on their bodies, or as I mentioned before, as an accident, a horrible accident. Some died in that last moment. That's the last things that they remember.

And, of course, fear, which we've already talked about. All who have never known God will have an opportunity to be resurrected to this physical life so they can have an opportunity to know, understand, and follow our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Lives that ended horribly will have comfort in the eighth day. Again, let's... I'll reference Revelation 20, verse 12 and 13, where He said, And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books, plural, the books, what we believe will be the books of God that we have in our Bibles.

The books were opened so that they could be taught God's way, like we have had the blessing of being taught, some of us, for our entire lives. And then it says, And another book, singular, will be opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books. And the sea gave up the dead, which were in it, and the death of Hades delivered up the dead, who were in them. And they were judged, each one, according to his works.

I won't read through Ezekiel, all of chapter 37, but let's turn there, because there's a few highlights that I'd like to draw out, specifically tying into the comfort that we have. Ezekiel 37, in verse 1. We'll skip around in this passage a little bit, because we reviewed it this morning. But let's first look at verse 3. Ezekiel 37, verse 3. And he said to me, and this is God saying, Son of man, can these bones live? Can these lives that ended in tragedy be at peace and come back together? Can the lives that were struggled, people who struggled with addictions, with drugs, can these bones really come back together?

So I answered, O Lord God, you know. And he again said to me, Prophesy to these bones and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord, these lives that will be resurrected, to be taught to hear God's word. Occasionally I ask the congregations in Michigan to consider for just a moment what our life would be like if we didn't have God living in us, if we didn't have the knowledge opened, if we didn't have the calling that we had.

Where would we be? What would we be doing today? What would we have been doing yesterday? I tell them only to focus on it just for a little bit, because my mind only wants to focus on it a little bit, because it's a scary place to go. Because our lives have been forever changed because of the knowledge that we have and the direction that God has called us to.

Hear the word of the Lord, O dry bones. And we know the passage of bones came together. Flesh came upon those bones. Physical life like that you and I are living today was brought back to these lives. Verse 9, thus breaking into the midway into the passage. Thus says the Lord in verse 9, Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live. Come from every direction, this wind and this life and this breath, back into these slain, so they may live.

Verse 11, He said to me, Son of man, these bones are the house of Israel. They indeed say, our bones are dry. Our hope is lost. Is our hope really lost? There's comfort in the eighth day. In verse 13, Then you shall know that I am the Lord. When I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up from your graves, I will put my spirit in you.

You want to talk about supercharged people? People that lived through tragedy, lived through the hard aspects of life, who died in aspects of war. And then God says, Yeah, you lived a hard life, but here's my spirit. Now, walk in this way. It's amazing to think about what all will be done through those people when they have God's spirit working in them. He says, I will put my spirit in you, and you shall live. They'll live a life that they have never thought was possible. You shall live, and I'll place you in your own land, and then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it, says the Lord.

There will be a newness of life never experienced before. Imagine the comfort that will bring to those lives when they have never lived a life with that comfort. Without Satan's influence on their lives, without the weight that this world has under Satan's rule, without hurt or pain, without war and violence, being brought up and saying, hey, I need your help. This implement of war, this spear, this sword, we need to turn it into something to garden with. They're going to think we're crazy until they see how well it works.

And how quickly will they grab that? Those who died in horrible aspects of war, do you think they want to go back to that lifestyle and say, yep, sign me up again. They are going to embrace God's way. When he says this will never be an implement of war ever used again, you will now go forth with newness of life in a new direction.

There will be newness of life in the abundance that is lacking today. The poverty, that isn't just overseas. Sometimes we think about poverty, we think about foreign nations. Think about your community where you live. The children that go home hungry or go to school hungry every morning because nobody made them breakfast. And even worse, there is no food in the house. They come home after having a lunch, maybe a breakfast and a lunch at school, knowing there won't be any food at night. This is in your communities. This is where you live.

Their stomachs hurt. They look to their mom or to their dad or to someone who should be caring for them. It's not there. And when there is occasional groceries in the house, there is a tendency for those children to hoard the groceries or to eat as much as they can to the point of making themselves sick because they don't know if they'll see food again for a while. This is in our communities. This is in our backyards. This isn't just overseas. There will be abundance. There will be a way that people can be taught to care for their children, how it is to be a parent, a good parent.

There's comfort that's going to come from this eighth day. There's comfort that will come from a new government established by Jesus Christ that will bring just and fair treatment to all. Part of the comfort that will be experienced is what God will allow you and I to provide. Have you ever had those dreams of where God's going to place you in the kingdom?

A gentleman earlier in the feast, I forget which message it was, said he wanted to be on the picking up the trash crew along the sides of the road. You know what I want to do? If God has this in store for me, I want to teach people how to garden, how to grow food with their own hands the way that God wanted it to be. Have you ever thought about some of these jobs? It doesn't mean that God's going to give it to us, but it means we know God is going to give us roles and opportunities to serve people and humanity in ways that our lives will feel so full there will be no other job we could ever imagine having. Don't have to worry about following the circus elephant around cleaning up after it. That's not going to be your job.

He's going to blow our minds with the roles and the opportunities that we'll have to serve everyone who will be given an opportunity to know Him. The personal experiences that we've gained from this life will aid us in support of others. We've battled through challenges. Every single one of us have battled through challenges and trials. We understand the pain that this life can bring. And who better to understand what people have dealt with than other fellow humans, you and me, who battled and overcame the world through the love of our Lord and Savior? Let's turn to Isaiah 30, verse 18. Isaiah 30, verse 18. Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you, and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you, for the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are those who wait for Him. For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem. You shall weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry. When He hears it, He will answer you. And though the Lord gives you the bread at adversity and the waters of affliction, yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore. But your eyes shall see your teachers. Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way, walk in it, whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left. We will have opportunities to help, to teach, to take that single mother who never knew how to care for her children, and to say, Here's how you do it. The gratefulness that will be in people's hearts, because you walked their walk. You lived some of their challenges, and you'll be able to say, Yeah, it's hard. Yeah, we had to overcome. Because you understand. Through this and other passages, we understand that the saints, those given spiritual life, spirit life, will have the opportunity to help and teach according to God's way of life. Again, there's comfort in the eighth day. I think we could each go around this room and share a personal account of God's kingdom that we can't wait to see in reference to this eighth day. I'd like to share a couple, though, of examples, and I'll share one person's first account, and then I'll share a personal account of mine. There's a young lady.

You'll have to be patient with me, please. There's a young lady that I know her story, and she gave me permission to share it. Her life did not start the way that we or God desired life to start. She was conceived out of wedlock, and her mother battled challenges with drugs, one of several of her challenges. The young lady was born premature and had to go through withdrawal as a newborn. The mother knew she would not be able to care for this child, so she was adopted by a very loving family that could not have children on their own. And this family took this child and started raising her according to God's word.

From her earliest memory, she was taught God's way of life. But also early in this young lady's life, her birth mother died in an auto accident.

She kept a connection to her past through her mother's parents, her grandparents, who, up through adulthood, she was able to have a relationship with her birth mother's parents, her grandparents. She had a connection to her past, and they loved her deeply. The daughter that they lost was their only daughter, their only child, whose life was a challenge. And when she died early, their only connection through their daughter was to their grandchild who was adopted to another family. But they kept that connection. They kept that relationship. She shared with me that she looks forward to meeting her mother and having a relationship with her.

There's comfort in the eighth day. She wants to show her mother there's a better way of life than the one her mother struggled with.

There's comfort in the eighth day. She wants to introduce her mother to her granddaughter and hopefully other grandchildren someday.

There's comfort in the eighth day. She wants her mother to see that life can be so much more than the challenges she experienced when she didn't know the one true God.

There's comfort in the eighth day. Again, Isaiah 30, verse 20. Your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, but your eyes shall see your teachers. Your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, This is the way. Walk in it. This is the way. I will love everyone so much. This is the way. Walk in it. Whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.

My personal story and application to this day goes a long ways back. Ever from the moment of understanding, growing up in the church and coming to the understanding of this day, there's a life that I've always had come to my mind on this day. I never had an opportunity to know my grandmother on my dad's side.

She died of suicide one year before I was born. She battled challenges. She battled mental health issues. And I look forward to the day to get to meet her. I want my dad to introduce me to his mom.

She didn't know that this was our way of life. She didn't know because my mother had not been called. My dad had not been called yet at that time when she lived.

She didn't know that her grandson would become a pastor.

I look forward to this day. There's going to be a comfort and a joy in my heart that's had a hole since I've been born. A connection to my past. I want to see the aspects. I've heard wonderful things about her. Her kindness. The way that she cared for others. I want to see which of those aspects that God blessed me to have from her. And to be able to show her to walk in the way, which I believe she will take immediately and go forward with it. I'm humbled to be able to share one of my stories with you because I'm able to be here today. But you have these stories, too. You have these relatives that you miss deeply and you can't wait to show God's way to them. You have a neighbor that's life ended early and it broke your heart. One that might have been caught up in this issue or caught up in this issue. And that you may have an opportunity to help. There is so much comfort from this day.

Again, I know we could each go around the room.

These stories can be shared with one another, whether we do it here on this eighth day, whether you go home and you share stories that you look forward to with those in your congregation. These stories are powerful. These stories give us motivation to keep going forward, to keep our vision on the end goal, to let God continue to transform our lives from the inside out. Because we want to be there, don't we? We want to be instrumental in helping God change lives.

And so share these stories with others. Let these stories be the fuel that continues to allow you to have the endurance to go forward.

There truly is comfort in all of this eighth day pictures and represents. When healing will come to all who have never known the one true God.

As we close, let's turn to Revelation 22 in verse 6.

Revelation 22 in verse 6.

Now I John saw and heard these things, and when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, See that you do not do that, for I am your fellow servant and of your brother and the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. And he says, Worship God. We are going to be surrounded by a cloud of witnesses and others and of angels and of servants who will all have one eye and one go in mind, and that is to worship God and to serve God. And we will have an opportunity to be there in a role, a powerful role, one that won't be able to wipe the smile off our faces. When I got married, at the end of the day, my muscles hurt because I was smiling so much that day. Just couldn't stop smiling. Face hurt. Our faces are going to hurt for eternity. Continuing on to verse 12, and behold, he says, I am coming quickly. He says it again, and my reward is with me to give to everyone according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. There is nothing in between. He is all and in all, everything. Blessed are those who do his commandments that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city. Verse 16, I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star. And the spirit and the bride say, come, and let him who hears say, come, and let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in the book. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the book of life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. It's a final warning that you and I are given. Hold solid to the truth that we have. Don't change it. Don't alter it. Don't add to it. Don't take away from it. Verse 20, He who testifies to these things says, Surely I am coming quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. In the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, be with you all. Amen. There is comfort in the eighth day. As been said by many before me, we've read the end of the book and we see who wins. We have an opportunity to stand with who wins and to enjoy all that he has for us. Godspeed this wonderful day we look so forward to as we each continue to pray, Thy kingdom come.