Feast 2020 Chronicle: To God Be The Glory

Well, you know, I was told long ago by someone and heard college professors talk about, you know, one of the things that you should do in your life is journal the experiences that you've been through. And so that you have them as a record so you can go back and look at it and see them notable things in your life. And, you know, I never have done that. You know, there's times when I will write and I'll write and actually as I go back as we move from places, I'll see where I did do that during a few feasts.

And it's been kind of interesting to see what we were thinking during that time, what we were doing, how many people were at the feast, and it brings back memory. So it is an important thing to do. But this year, this year, and this feast, and this whole Holy Day season has been unique in the Church of God history. I mean, what we went through during the spring Holy Days never could have been foreseen. We learned a lot from it. I talked about here in the fall Holy Days, we've learned a lot from it. And certainly the Feast of Tabernacles was one that we should always, always remember.

What God allowed to happen in really all the feast sites across the United States and the way it all came about in spite of halls canceling us, you know, in some cases, in many of the feast sites that we had contracted with, that we had to go back and find places later, and how existing places allowed us to expand into bigger places so we could have people and socially distance in ways that, you know, I say, has become almost...

I hate to see us ever go back to just where chairs are lined up again. It's kind of nice to have a little bit of distance and room between everyone. I know we're going to work with Daytona and see if perhaps we can kind of just get that same exhibition hall that we had next year, or that we have this year for next year as well, regardless of what COVID is doing. It would be nice to have all that space and everything.

But I wanted to spend the day doing something I don't normally do. I want to go back through the feast and all, you know, the experience I had was in Daytona, because what we saw there was God's hand at work really from beginning to end.

And maybe, you know, maybe it isn't, you know, since I was involved with many of the things, I saw some things happened and happened, and I would scratch my head, and I was just amazed at how things developed throughout. And even after the feast, there were some encouraging things that I thought were just the capstone on a feast that was unique and that so clearly show that God's hand is with us. He was here every step of the way, and not one of us should ever, ever forget that.

You know, we sang some opening songs today, and really the theme of my message today is, To God Be the Glory. We owe Him everything. And today is about showing what His hand is and magnifying Him in our minds, because we worship a tremendous God, and He works in ways that we may not see. But today, I want to go through a few of the things that happened at the feast in Daytona that probably happened at your feast as well. And I would encourage you to speak about the things that you saw at the feast.

Not just the physical things you did, but even some of those, you know, in Daytona, were kind of miracles the way they turned out. And probably in your feast as well. But let's keep God always at the center of our conversations when we talk about the feast, because that's what it's about. And, you know, in Deuteronomy 14, God has us go to the feast each year.

One of the reasons is that the fear of God may always be before you. That the fear of God may always be before you. We see His hand, and when we do what He asks us to do, you know, He does bless.

And we do see Him, and it's good to see Him. So let me have got four or five things I want to talk about today. And as we went through the feast, you know, certain scriptures would come to my mind as I would see some things unfolding. And I'm going to share those with you today and format the sermon in that way. You know, the theme for the feast, I guess if we had one, was, Let Your Light So Shine Before Men.

On the Daytona brochure, we had a picture of the lighthouse, the Ponset Lighthouse, and we had that scripture on it. And, you know, every year when we go to the feast, well, let's go ahead and turn to Matthew 5.

And it just reads Christ's word, words on this. Every year when we go to the feast, we hear the accolades about how well-behaved people are and what a pleasure our group is.

And I heard many of those this year as well, and they become commonplace, but it's a good commonplace. But this year, there were some things different that happened that, again, this kind of just stuck in my mind and let us know that we are God's people, and He works with us differently, and we learn things that set us apart from the world.

And sometimes we don't recognize how much apart from the world we are when we let our example show. Matthew 5, verse 14 says, You are the light of the world. A city that set us on the hill cannot be hidden. No matter where you are at the feast, we were a city on that hill in that area. There isn't a feast site that was out there that wasn't thinking, what about this group that's coming in? What's going to happen? Are we going to end up on the news? How will they behave? Will they be taking the precautions they need to? I guarantee you that every single area that there was a feast this year, that was in the minds of the people. And yet, God allowed us to go there. Even in Daytona, they made a comment that they were surprised that the city approved 800 people to come to that convention center. That was the biggest group they had, but they said for some reason they were okay with it. But they were also, you know, we assured them, even though they said, we don't have to wear masks, you can take the masks off in the main room, as long as we had a mask room for those who wanted it. You know, that they didn't understand because that wasn't allowed for any other group, but that they were okay with us for some reason, and the city approved it. But they were also not wanting to have the Ocean Center and Daytona Beach pop up on the Orlando news and the national news as well. So we assured them we would be respecting the protocols that are out there and being cautious. But there was something they realized that I thought they kind of know God is giving His favor here in Daytona because they had every reason to say no. You know, the first response back was 300. 300 max is what you can have. But then they opened up this huge arena that said you can have up to 1,200. With everything that we can do, we'll have even 1,200 in there if you have that many. It's like, well, we don't have that many. So anyway, when we read these words, you know, people do watch us. And this year it was an unusual time for people to watch what we were doing with these large groups that were gathering together for this thing called the Feast of Tabernacles.

You are the light of the world. A city that sits on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand. And it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven. When we behave properly, if I can use that term, we're glorifying God.

When we're not resisting the authorities, when we're trying to work with them, when we're showing the proper respect, and when we're doing what God has called us to do, led by His Holy Spirit, we glorify God. When people say things about us, that they don't say about other groups, it glorifies God and it sticks in their mind, this group is different for some reason. They don't know why, but it's different. I mentioned that the city, and I was impressed that every time I would talk to them about something, they would talk about the cities approve this and the cities approve that. There are many things, as we tried to put together, some activities. I would talk to some restaurants and we had 50% capacity, that wasn't going to work, and every door closed. I kind of wanted to have a family day, and not just a beach party day and whatever. So, this Daytona Lagoon, that probably a lot of you went to, maybe some of you went to anyway, turned out to be a very good venue. But from the very beginning of the Daytona Lagoon, they were very receptive to what we were doing. And I'm sure it had to do with money when they heard that we were going to have a convention literally right next door to them. And, you know, they expressed surprise. The city is allowing 800 people to come to Daytona. Now, we didn't have 800 people, it was 700 that actually showed up. You know, they were surprised, but we worked with them and talked about it's got to be a private party, and they were going to be closed at the end of September. But then they called and said, well, we'll keep it open for you guys. But then they had to get the approval from the city, and the city came back and approved up to 500 people to be in that park. And when they called, they said, you can have up to 500 people. The city said, okay, which surprised them.

But they said, the city said, the comment they made was, you know, we've got this group of 800 in the Ocean Center. They're going to be by themselves, and as long as it's a private party and it's just them being there with that group, we're okay with 500 being there. And I thought, what they saw was, and for some reason the city saw, and I know there's some in the convention bureau that date back to the 80s when we were there, and 2010 when we were there, but this group is different. They can handle it. They're not going to be crazy. And it struck me, they kind of saw us as a family, if we would move from the convention center, and just us was in that, everything would be okay. Again, we have God's favor, right? He opens doors, and I knew at that time that I thought the family day was going to be perfect because this is of God.

This is of Him because every other thing we tried or talked to just fell apart, but that was the one. After the feast, I went back to settle up things with the lagoon, and there was a lady that we worked with. She was the event coordinator, and the owner was there, too. And when we were first setting it up, she had mentioned to me that she used to be the event coordinator for the Indiana Pacers.

So we hit it off right away because we lived 20 years in Indianapolis, and I was a Pacers fan, and she would talk about these things that she did and everything, but she got tired of Indiana, understandably, won the mood of Florida, so she took the job there. And so we hit it off very well, and she was the one who was saying, the city said this and the city said that, and even as they saw the number of people that showed up for that family day, more than half of the feast went to it, but it was a very good venue for that.

She was surprised, and they were pleased, but she told me on that Tuesday that it was there after the feast, and she was very sincere, and she said, you know, I want to tell you, I want to tell you, Rick, with all the events I've ever done for the Pacers, and there were many of them, and all the events we've ever done, she goes, there is no group like your group. Your people that day, we were amazed at how they handled everything. We had absolutely no problems. It was a perfect thing, and we sure hope you'll come back next year, and I said, absolutely we will. It wasn't the typical, oh, you were nice people type stuff. I could tell what she said, and she had a number, with her background and experience of all the things they do with the Pacers and the events there, I thought, we have set a good example. God is glorified, and when they hear the United Church of God, people in Daytona, they're going to know. They're going to know that church. That church is different than the other church groups they have, because they do have, at the Convention Bureau, a person who's just set up, just set up for religious groups that come into Daytona. And she was very complimentary before the feast, as well, remembering back to the 80s, when we were there, and the type of things that the church and the reputation of us back then. So, you know, we have to be appreciative of what God has called us to, and the type of people we've become, and the light that we give to the world, and part of the feast, when we go out into the world, is letting our light shine, so that God is glorified. Let's turn back to 1 Peter. 1 Peter 2.

You know, these are verses we read many times, but they took on new meaning for me, and the light of everything I heard, and everything that happened there as we congregated in Daytona this year. And again, I'm sure every feast director will say the same thing, and have experiences that he's going to relate, as well. In 1 Peter 2, verse 9, it says, And then Peter goes on to say, And there will come a time where they disagree with our beliefs and whatever, but no one's talking about us as evildoers today, but our conduct honorable before them, that when that time comes, they may by your good works, which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Whatever we do, let's be people who always, by the way we conduct ourselves, as we learn in all the feast sites everywhere, be people who bring glory to God by the way we behave, by the way we conduct ourselves with order, with dignity, and with respect toward Him. You know, one of the things about the family day that was interesting in Daytona, the first three days of the feast, for those of you who are there, it was overcast. Never saw the sun on the Sabbath, on the first Holy Day, on Sunday, or Monday. And it rained every day. And on Monday afternoon, I went over to the lagoon to just make sure everything was set and how we were going to get the people in and everything like that.

And we talked a little bit about, well, what happens if it rains all day Tuesday, because the forecast was showing total overcast and rain. And we talked about how, well, if it rains, people are wet anyway, but if there's thunder and lightning, we'd have to shut it down. Maybe Thursday would be a make-up day if that happened and things like that. It sounded all too confusing, but there isn't one person or one forecast anywhere in Florida that said that Daytona would be anything but overcast and rainy on Tuesday.

So we had ourselves all set up for that. They had themselves all set up for that. We talked about it, what was going to happen, and I was prepared to let people know, you know, go to the park anyway, it's rain, you're wet anyway, and whatever. But when I woke up Tuesday morning, I thought my wife had turned a light on in the bedroom. And I thought, you know, she's turning this light on, but I realized the sun. The sun is out there.

And I went to the window, I went outside on the balcony, I thought, the sun is out. God cleared the skies against every forecaster in Florida of what was going to be that day. The sun shone and it shone the rest of the feast and didn't rain again until the last holy day. It showed me that God was with us and showed me His power. You know, we went to the park that day and even people at the center said, I don't know what you guys did to bring the sun. And when we went to the lagoon, it was like, you know, we didn't see this forthcoming, but this is the perfect day for it. And I thought, oh, I know where it is. And I said, well, you know, God knew what we needed to have and it's sunny. I couldn't deny that in spite of every forecast, of every expectation, the sun was there. And it made me think of Matthew 8.

You know, we worship a God who is in control of everything. And sometimes we just overlook that and He can make things happen that we can't even expect. Right? I know people were praying about the thing. I prayed about it. I, you know, that the God would bring the... but I don't know if my expectation is that it would be sunny. I was stunned when I woke up that morning. In Matthew 8, verse 24, we have this very familiar incident of Jesus Christ and the apostles out on the boat, when the great wind comes about.

24, it says, And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves, but Christ was asleep. His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, Lord, save us, we're perishing. What are we going to do? But He said to them, Why are you fearful, O you of little faith? He arose, and you rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm. So the men marveled, saying, Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?

You know, who can this be, that even in the face of every forecaster in Florida, that the sun shines against all odds? God commands everything. And we need to pause and give Him glory for those things that we see in life and recognize the power that He has. Power over wind, power over storms, power over the sun, power over everything. He can provide whatever we need, and so we don't have to worry, we don't have to doubt.

We have to be people of faith, just like Jesus Christ told those disciples. I'll take care of it. God will take care of it. And we see, when we see His hands, we should pause and thank Him and keep that as a matter of record in our minds. That even in something as, I won't say insignificant, because Family Day was really a big and nice, nice, but something even in like that, God was there to move these clouds out and to have that sunshine when I don't think anyone, including me, expected it. But it shows His power. We should never, ever forget that. Let's look at Psalm, Psalm 147. In the Psalms, we see David talking about God's control and sovereignty over everything.

Job talks about His mastery over where God is. In the latter chapters there, where God is talking about that He has control over the snow and the frost and the ice. He has control over when it melts and that He uses those things for various reasons. On that Tuesday, He moved the clouds out that we may glorify Him, I believe.

So that they could be good, but also that we would glorify Him and recognize His hands and what we are doing. Psalm 147, verse 15. He sends out His command to the earth. His word runs very swiftly. He gives snow like wool. He scatters the frost like ashes. He casts out His hail like morsels who can stand before His cold. He sands out His word and melts them. He causes the wind to blow and the waters flow.

He is in control. He watches over His people. Never forget it. Always glorify God. And when you see these things, let's always pause in our minds to stop and give Him the glory. Because He is to be exalted above all. I want to read 19 and 20 there as well. He declares His word to Jacob. And of course, we know that we've had spiritual Israel today.

He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes, and His judgments to Israel. He has not dealt thus with any nation. And as far as judgments, they haven't known them. God deals with His people differently than the rest of the world. We are His people, but as part of that, we always have to remember what our responsibility to God is to. So we saw a few things happen there. I appreciate it because I have in my notes here the song, I Sing the Mighty Power of God.

And Devon and I didn't do that one. I heard that song today. I thought that's exactly what was in my mind. That song kind of portrays the power that God has, the power of our God that we worship. And that is worthy of worship and praise. Every year before the feast, you may or may not know that there is a speaker's meeting that the coordinators hold with everyone who is scheduled to speak at the feast that year. And we do that for a couple reasons. One, to see that we don't have duplicate messages and also so that people can kind of just let us know what they're planning to talk about, their sermons and sermonettes, and get input from other people, maybe verses they haven't heard about or thought about and whatever.

And I've been involved in a number of those, but this year's speaker meeting for Daytona was different. It was different. And I told Debbie after it, I said, you know, that was the most enjoyable speaker's meeting I've ever been part of. People were participative. The detail was good.

When I listened to what the summaries that the people were going to talk about is, I said, man, it's going to be a really good feast. There's really good sermons that are going to be given there. And I knew that God's hand was involved in that as I listened to those. And then as we got to the feast, and actually those messages were given, I thought, wow, we have had a tremendous spiritual feast.

And I'm sure that you did wherever you went to the feast as well, but it struck me. And I mentioned to the ministers, I think, that this was the finest group of ministers I've ever been at the feast with. They were very focused. They were very focused, very participative and helpful. And their messages were all to a tee. Very, very, very good and very, very helpful.

So I thought about the spiritual meal that God is giving us. We had come into a time with COVID that up until the week before, when the governor raised the restrictions on the restaurants, some of the things that we had thought about doing for the senior luncheon and whatever, we had to kind of just stay at the convention center and use their catering service. But I thought, well, we might not have had all those fine, fancy things that we would have had for a lunch here and a lunch there. But boy did God give us a feast spiritually in Daytona. We had sermons that ranged from everything. And when they all get posted, I would encourage you to listen to some of those. And to the other feast sermons, too, because I have a feeling that everywhere God gave some mighty, fine messages this year and inspired people to give them. This was a feast unlike any other. It was God bringing his people back together, coming together before him. And we were fed a fine meal. The other thing that I noticed, you know, is the special music. Before the feast, there was a thing come out. No choirs this year at the feast, no orchestra accompaniment for hymns and things like that. And it kind of, you know, it was kind of like through, you know, things into a little bit of quandary. But I will say the special music at Daytona this year was exceptional. The soloists were very good. The songs that were sung were just inspirational. I've even made the comment that we need to put together kind of an album of the special music this year and just make it available to people because it was so good and it was so inspiring. It was kind of like the dessert each day. We had this fine meal and the special music was just, just fantastic. You know, it reminded me of Psalm 23. Psalm 23. As God prepared all that, you know, from before the feast ever began, Psalm 23, the famous, the Lord is my shepherd Psalm, he says in verse 5, You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. And yes, he did prepare a table for us. It was a spiritual feast. I'll have to say, you know, feast sermons are always good, but I don't know what it was about Daytona this year and whatever, but, you know, maybe it was my attention was more on it or whatever. But I do believe God inspired and it was just, it was a wonderful thing. He prepared a table before us in the presence of the world around us, not necessarily our enemies, but he would do that in the presence of our enemies as well. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. And indeed, our cup does run over. You know, we always remember God will provide everything we need physically. He will provide what we need spiritually. And we need to pause and always give him thanks, you know, for the physical things that he's provided for us and the spiritual food as well. He provides what we need. And if you listen to the messages that you heard at the feast, you will do well to follow those admonitions that you were given and those principles that you were given, really to follow God always. As we follow God, it's wondrous and miraculous what we see him do. Now let's turn over to Psalm 104 as well.

Psalm 104, verse 10. You know, this harkens back to God in control of the physical earth that we have, but there's also, we can see, a spiritual component to these verses as well. Verse 10, it says, He sends the springs into the valleys. They flow among the hills. They give drink to every beast of the field. The wild donkeys quench their thirst. By them the birds of the heavens have their home. They sing among the branches. He waters the hills from his upper chambers. The earth is satisfied with the fruit of your works. God watches over all the creation and gives the animals what they need physically. He causes the grass to grow for the cattle and vegetation for the service of man. You know there's a spiritual component to what God is talking about there as well. Yes, he provides everything that we need to eat, but he provides the wine. And you know the spiritual symbolism of what that provides that makes us all, that makes salvation possible. He provides the bread that we eat every day. And when we pray for our daily bread, it's not just the physical bread, but the spiritual bread that God gives us as we eat of that bread and the oil of his Holy Spirit. It takes those three things, the blood of Jesus Christ, the bread, the unleavened bread that we eat each day, the Spirit, in order for us to have life. And so when we think about the physical components, there's a spiritual component that's there as well. And God does provide for us, certainly at the feast, certainly throughout the year as well. Don't ever discount what God is doing. Don't ever discount the messages that you hear. Always look at the Bible. Always recognize that God is working to provide us what we need to sustain and to progress. Let's look at 1 Thessalonians 2.

1 Thessalonians 2, verse 13. Paul writing, and he says, he says, Because when you receive the Word of God, which you heard from us, which we've all been in that situation that Paul is talking about, we have received the Word of God, because when you received the Word of God, which you heard from us, you welcomed it. Not as the Word of men, but as it is in truth, the Word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. We must believe. We must look at the Bible. We must do the things that God tells us to do and understand and pray for the messages that we hear, pray for the inspiration, and understand that as we believe and as we work with God, it is Him. It is Him providing what we need. If we allow ourselves to be used by Him and if we allow our minds to receive what He gives us to do, don't discount it. Know that God is always at work. He will always give us what we need. The inspiration, the correction, the reproof, whatever it is, the doctrine, the understanding, He will always provide.

We have to be people who believe and take it when God gives it to us and not neglect any of the ways that we receive the Word of God through study, through reading, through Sabbath services, through messages you may even listen to on the Internet. Don't ever neglect it and don't ever forget it. At Daytona this year, looking at what God did in the table He prepared, He will prepare a table for us all the time. And even when there's a dearth of the hearing of the Word, there will be a table that God prepares for His people.

We just have to believe and we have to keep in tune to it and not allow ourselves to ever doubt or ever disappear from where God would have us be. You know, I couldn't talk about the feast really anywhere this year without talking about the health concerns that people had. You know, COVID has been a major part of life in America since, what, February, I guess it's been. And it's affected so many things. It's affected the entire society. It's affected the church.

It's caused changes in schedules and things that we could have never foreseen happening. And you've lived through all that. We've all lived through that. We've seen how it's all resulted in church. And even the blessings and even the excitement that we have as we saw God bring us back together in time for the fall Holy Days and the Feast of Tabernacles.

You know, COVID did hit, you know, in a few of the feast sites this year. And early on in Daytona, we did have one isolated case of a lady who never did show up in Daytona. And we announced that. And she had, they kept her in the hospital right through the entire feast and kept her husband quarantined in the hotel room through the entire time. And I have to admit, when that happened, when I got the phone call that someone had been diagnosed, I wondered what was going to happen.

And I prayed to God, stop this virus. Don't let this ruin the feast. Don't let this cause anything. I called, you know, Victor Kubik, the president, to let him know what had happened. And I talked to the convention center. And I wasn't sure what they were going to do. But, you know, they were amazingly, they were amazingly understanding. And they said, you know, she's never been in the hall? No. And they said, you know what, just, you know, be a little more cautious with the masks for a day or two and let's see what happens. And they were going to let the city know, but no one ever did anything.

I was concerned, are they going to shut us down for a day? Are they going to make everyone stay home or whatever? Never even entered their minds. They were happy with what we were doing and happy with us and, and it was like, continue with what we were doing. You know, we kept in contact with the family throughout this site, throughout the feast.

Not one of the other family members ever showed a symptom, ever showed a fever during the feast. And as I mentioned before, a couple of them since the feast have developed the problem, but it's been away from the feast. And Tom Tolar, by the way, too, I should mention, it's been 14 days, more than 14 days now since anyone has had contact with him. So he's, you know, as far as we're concerned, even though he's just been diagnosed. But, you know, I watched that and I thought, look, look how that's happening. And God stopped that because I know that it could have spread.

You know, you've seen all the, you've seen all of the things on TV where groups get together and all of a sudden it's like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, right? And there's a couple of other feast sites that had some isolated COVID cases as well. But I watched God's hand in stopping it. And the center was never. We had another one on the seventh day where a lady was feeling poorly and she, she was, she was diagnosed. And she never did go to the hospital, didn't feel that bad. But everyone was able to go home on time and they were cleared for flights and cleared for everything else.

But I watched God's hand in rebuking that virus that it didn't take hold in any, in any of the feast sites where the three that it did pop up. And it showed me that God is in control of health. And actually, in Daytona Beach, you know, COVID was a concern, but we had a bigger concern in Daytona Beach. That was more, that was more, well, that was more—I don't even know the word. I want to tell you a story. Everyone that was in Daytona should know the name right, Jennifer Redlarchik. She sang special music on the Friday. Did a beautiful job singing special music. The day before, when I saw her name on the special music list, I thought, oh, I know where, I know where she's from because Redlarchik is not a common name.

It's one of those Eastern European names. So I thought, and there was a Redlarchik in my high school class. So I knew, I knew their, the man's sister and whatever from high school, and I knew they had come into the church 20 or 30 years ago.

But I hadn't seen them. So I talked to Jennifer, and the day before she sang, and I said, what's your husband's name? And she said, Greg. And I said, I know Greg. I know Greg. I grew up in the same area. I went to the same high school he did, same high school Bonnie did, and whatever. And so, you know, she brought him over, and it was like, wow, we just, we just hit it right off. He was excited to have that. And it was always nice to see someone from your home area do that. So we talked again on Friday, and, you know, he, he said, he said, look, let's go to dinner tonight.

Let's go to dinner tonight. Well, we had had plans for dinner that night, but as the afternoon unfolded and things developed, it's like those plans disappeared. So we called and said, hey, Greg, if you still are up to it, you and Jennifer, let's go to dinner. And we had this tremendous time. We talked about things back in Hammond, Northeast or Northwest Indiana outside of Chicago, high school type stuff. He's five years older than me, but, but it's the same high school, same people. And during the course of the dinner, you know, something interesting came up because Debbie's family is, is from that area too. Her last name is Matt's, and they remembered her mom and dad because they'd been in the church for 30 or 40 years now, the red larchics.

And Debbie said, oh yeah, my younger brother Daniel died two or three years ago and he, he wasn't sick, but he went to bed one night and then he just was dead. The next morning they just found him dead. No, you know, no struggle. No, no apparent, you know, no apparent stroke. And he was just dead when they woke up. And Jennifer said, that is so interesting. The same thing happened to my sister 10 years ago. She went to bed. She wasn't sick. She never had a heart problem in her life. And when they woke up in the morning, there she was dead. So it's kind of an interesting conversation to have on the Friday, the Friday before the last day of the feast, the day that Jennifer, Jennifer saying special music is saying, saying it so beautifully. The next morning, the eighth day, I get a call pretty early in the morning from Greg. And he's saying, he's saying, I can't believe it. I could tell he was out of breath. He was worn out. And he said, Jennifer's heart stopped during the night. Jennifer's heart stopped during the night. And I'm kind of like, it's like, what do you mean her heart stopped during the night? He goes, she was dead. He goes, I woke up. He goes, I don't even know why I woke up. But she goes, she was gurgling. She was making this gurgling sound. And he goes, I was beating on her chest. And he goes, I had to call 911. Took him forever to get there. And he goes, and they worked on her and worked on her and worked on her. And he goes, all I could think was, this is the same thing that happened to her sister. The same thing we talked about. And here is happening to her this very night. And I was taking it all in. And my mind was just on overload because I thought, how can this happen? Why would that happen on the very night that all of this transpired and we even talked about it? And he said, it took him forever. But he goes, after they worked on her a long time, they did get the heart to start beating a little bit. And then he went through this, I don't even understand all the procedures they go through, but they put her into a coma type thing. And he said, she's going to have to be in that for 48 hours and then they'll cool her down and see if she might wake up. So I, enough. I mean, I was overwhelmed. He was overwhelmed. But he had been up all night and he was going back to rest. So I announced that in the 8th day services. But my mind was boggled as I did it because I thought, I kept thinking, why would this happen? How could that possibly happen on that night when we just talked about it and then that very night the same thing happens to her? It made no sense to me. And I kept asking God, why? Why would you do this? What possible good can this be? This is not what the feast is about. The feast is a time of hope, a time of praise. And as the day went on, people would come and mention it and there were some people there who understood it.

You have to be a support for Greg. And I said, of course we're going to be a support for Greg. We planned to stay for a couple days anyway and we weren't going to leave him alone and everything. But I kept telling people, I don't believe Jennifer's going to die. I don't believe it. In spite of everything, and even the people then over the course of the next few days, the doctors were prepping Greg with, you know what happened?

She may not wake up at all. And if she wakes up, we could have this brain damage. She may not be the same person. Blah, blah, blah. You know, all the lingo. And so Monday, for some reason he thought Monday was the day she should wake up, by what the doctors had said. And I had something that I needed to do on Monday and I needed to go up to Brunswick too and bring the stuff back from the feast back up to the storage in Jekyll. And I thought, should I do this on Monday or should I wait until Tuesday to do it?

And his daughter had flown in the day before, so she was with him. I thought, well, he's got the support. I probably want to be alone with her at that time anyway. So for some reason I decided to go up to Brunswick and get all that done and all the other stuff done and keep in contact with him. So I hadn't heard anything by 2 o'clock.

11 o'clock was the time he had in his mind. So I texted him at 2 o'clock and I said, Greg, what's going on? And he said, nothing. She's not doing anything. You know, she's still in a coma. She's not responding to anything. I said, okay, well, just give it time. I don't. I said, just don't lose hope. Understand that God is going to, I believe, heal her.

Or actually, what I learned during the cast is, you know, healing is one thing, but actually we needed God to bring her back to life is what we needed to do, because in the face of everything the doctors were saying, and that we heard on Tuesday then, you know, from one of the nurses there, told us that the lady, you know, was dead.

And so, you know, nothing happened Tuesday, and he was totally devastated. He texted and he says, I'm totally destroyed, which I could understand. And there was really no comfort. But then at 10.30 that night, he called and he was excited. And he said, you know, the doctors said, sometimes the sedatives take longer to work or whatever they did. Again, all this stuff. And he goes, so she still has a chance of waking up. And it was hope. And he was excited about it.

And I was excited about it. And I thought, because all I could think during the day is just don't let them talk you into pulling the plug, because I knew that was the next thing that they were going to do. Just give it time. So he was excited. So I said, Greg, I'll be over there first thing in the morning at the hospital.

And I was. You know, I got over there by 9 o'clock, and I expected that he would be there, but he wasn't there. And I walked into the room, and the nurse was there, and I said, oh, I'm here to see Jennifer. And she was just laying there, lifeless, right? Just like she had been. Just the only thing other than if you could look at someone in a funeral home, she had all these tubes, and she was just breathing. But she was gray, lifeless. But it gave me an opportunity to talk to God.

And I'll always remember the feeling in that room. As I told God I knew, I knew he could bring her back to life. And I knew that he had the power over life and death. And it was one of those riveting-type things that I'll never forget the feeling of my life. And when I got done, there was another man, John Allen, for those of you who were at the feast, who was also in the hospital. And I told the nurse, I guess she was standing outside, I said, listen, when Greg comes, just tell him Rick was here.

He's going to go visit someone else in the hospital, and I'll be back. And so I did. I went over, and I was gone for 30 or 45 minutes. When I came back over, Greg was there. And I looked at Jennifer, and her eyes were open. And it was an awesome thing. I could hardly speak. Greg was incredulous of what was going on.

I watched Jennifer's eyes. I watched Jennifer's eyes. And when Greg would speak, the eyes would go right to him. I thought, she knows who she's listening to. And then the daughter would say something, and her eyes would go over there, and I thought, she's still got her brain function. That's a good thing. She's kind of motionless, but she's moving her head, and she's recognizing things. I stayed for a while. It was just a wonderful day.

I went back the next morning, and Jennifer, all the color was back in her. I mean, she looked like herself. She was sitting up in bed, and she had all these tubes in her, and she was still on a ventilator, of course. But she wanted to talk, and she kept trying to mouse something. We couldn't understand what she was saying. I told her, don't worry about it. Just be grateful to God. But it was very good. Greg was excited, and everything. The doctors, of course, were trying to figure out what to do. Do we put her on a defibrillator? Do we do this? It's like, we've got to do something. But they couldn't find any blockages in the tests that they had done.

They couldn't find any reason that that would have happened to her. So the next day, I went back over in the morning, and she was, oh, no, no, no. I didn't go until later in the day. They took her off the ventilator. They had prepped Greg for, you know, probably she's going to have problems breathing and whatever, but we'll put her back on there. They took her off the ventilator, and it's like she never needed it to begin with. She just immediately started breathing on her own, and then when they took the tubes out of her mouth, Greg said she just started talking like she's never talked before.

And I was sitting there, and he said she got her iPad out. She started to email people that she knew that she was okay. It was an incredible experience. Greg called me. I've lost track of the days now. I think Thursday night. And he said, I thought, the nurse was just in here. A nurse was just in here, and she said, you know, I was here the night they brought your wife in. And she goes, I looked at her, and I thought, you know, I thought that this isn't going to work.

She's dead. She was dead. The heart rate for at least 20 minutes. They didn't have one between the time that Greg found her and probably more, they said. But at least 20 minutes, she didn't have a heart rate. So how they got the heartbeat going again, she didn't know. But she said, you know, she's not going to wake up. And so she was off the next few days. So she goes, when I came in today, she goes, I don't care what the doctors say.

I don't care what you think. Understand, Greg, this is a miracle. This doesn't happen. And so for me, you know, I stopped by there last night on my way up to Jacksonville, and Jennifer was. She was just like herself. She was bubbly. She was talking, talking more than Greg says, talks more now than she did before. But it was just, it was just pure joy. And she'll probably be in the hospital another few days and whatever before they allow her to go home.

But for me, it was the perfect capstone to the feast, because you know what? God has the power over life and death. That's exactly what we have just been through in the fall holy days. We talked about the resurrection. We talked about, we talked about, you know, life. And God can bring back the physical life as well. You know, as we are going through it, John 11 stuck, came into my mind early on in the whole episode with Jennifer.

And it's the story of Lazarus. You know, and in verse 4 of John 11, you remember the story of Lazarus? You remember the story of Lazarus? Jesus Christ got the word that he was dead. He didn't rush over there, and Lazarus died. Verse 4 says, Jesus heard that, and he said, The Bible really, really does occur. He really does have the power over life and death.

And things that happen, and when they happen, we have no choice. If we're true Christians to do nothing but glorify Him. He made that happen. And for me, and for, I hope, everyone in Daytona, it was the unexpected thing that looked like it could have ruined the feast if she died, but God had something in mind. I will show you my power. I will show you my hand. I will show you that I am with you, and this church, and His church, and that He will see us through anything.

You know, we can read as we do, you know, certainly once a year, at least, or at the time of Passover, where Jesus Christ said three times in John 14, 15, and 16, if you ask anything in my name, I'll give it. Of course, when we ask something in Christ's name, that implies that we are really living His way of life, that we really are committed to Him, and not just saying the words, but really doing what He wants us to do.

And it taught me that's true. When we ask anything in Christ's name, if we believe, He will give it. And we should all be encouraged by that. It also kind of makes me realize God is getting us all ready, all ready for what yet lies ahead of us in who knows how much of the future, you know, how far from now. But it is something that we can never, never lose sight of.

God has the control over our health. Never forsake Him. Never forget that He does heal. When He promises to heal, He will, if we have faith, if we look to Him, He will do anything and has the power over everything. We don't have to take matters into our own hands. We don't have to believe everything the world says.

But we have to believe God. And we have to see Him in our lives, include Him in our lives, have faith in Him in our lives, and then glorify Him for what He does.

I wanted to conclude in Psalm 23. In Psalm 23, because, again, if I was going to do a capstone to the Feast of Tabernacles this year, Psalm 23 shows us God's love for us, that He shepherds us and that He watches over us. And every single verse here we can see in our Feast of Tabernacles where God has fulfilled everything that He said. And we've gone through everything in Psalm 23 here. Psalm 23, verse 1, He provides everything, and He knows where to go to get it. We just have to rely and trust in Him.

He makes me to lie down in green pastures. The shepherd knows where to feed the sheep. He knows where to take them and feed them in peace. And as we have all, no matter where we are at the Feast, we see that God will add us into green pastures. There was the spiritual food that should nourish us, inspire us, and encourage us for, well, forever, as we continue in that way. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters.

One of the things I didn't turn the TV on one time during the Feast, I got irritated at what I heard and determined I wasn't going to turn the TV on again. And it was a peaceful Feast. It was really coming out of the world, and I kind of like to live in that cocoon the rest of the time. But I also realized we need to be aware of what's going on and everything.

But it was nice to have that time, that 8, 9, 10, 11 days, to be away from the world and just do the things that God said and be with His people and people of like mind and living in His presence. He leaves me beside the still waters, and the Feast is a very peaceful time when we leave the world behind and truly leave the world behind. You know, it pictures the time when Jesus Christ returns, and the world will be at peace. None of the problems, none of the controversies, none of the garbage that we live in and hear about every day will be there. We can look forward to that time, and if we keep the Feast the way that God says to keep the Feast, we'll get that glimpse of what it will be like. And we won't want to come back to the world, but we will know that we have to and pray harder and more earnestly for God's Kingdom to come. He restores my soul. God does.

We had a sermon during the Feast on Restoration, and of course Acts 3, 19, there will be the restoration of all things. God will restore us. He does restore us if we let Him. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness. Follow Him. Follow Him. Let Him lead you. Get our own ideas and our own concerns and our own selves out of the way. Let God lead us in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Verse 4, and I'll never read these verses again, the same again after what we've been through here. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. You know, we can talk about COVID. We can talk about Jennifer. We can talk about other situations. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

I will fear no evil. For you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. And if all of us are thinking clearly, we would rise. Our cup runs over. Always be thankful. Always be looking to God.

Always be looking for Him in our lives. He is at work. His hand is there. His concern and His love and attention for us is there. Surely, if we follow Him and live through these first five verses, surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Eternal forever. So the conclusion here is, everything to God's glory. As you go here from here today, let's give Him the glory for everything in our lives.